Empathy
by Ihsan997
Summary: Substance abuse counseling in a Warcraft setting. Trigger warnings for disturbed people recounting rock bottom (in a Warcraft-y way). Very AU. 13 chapters
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: hello, dear readers! Welcome to my second story for Issinia Hearthglen, a mixed race aspiring priestess of the moon in the future of Azeroth. Although this story is chronologically set after The Deer Huntress, as well as other stories in her family's continuum, you do NOT need to read any of my other stories in order to understand this one. If you really want to read my other stories then I'll be thrilled, but I won't force you to. Any important details from the continuum will be revealed in the narrative here, so you'll understand everything that's going on.**

 **For reference, this story takes place on Teldrassil, mostly in the year 68 - it's AU and was written before Legion and BfA. Keep in mind that the Warlords of Draenor expansion took place in the year 31 on most timelines, with Legion following just after; this is a time far in the future of Azeroth, so the current in game expansions are just blips in the history books.**

Spring on Teldrassil was always a beautiful time. Really, it was a beautiful time of year just about anywhere in northern Kalimdor, but Teldrassil in particular was a fascinating place. Entirely self contained atop the several flat basins formed in between the massive branches, its environment was largely unaffected by the weather patterns on the mainland. Quiet, peaceful and almost sleepy like all night elven settlements aspired to be, the entire region - because that's what it was, due to sheer size - almost felt like it existed outside of the crises and petty squabbles of the world.

Spring time also meant that Darnassus was empty. After dark when most of the continental tree's inhabitants were awake and active, the starlight often shone on the new leaves in such a way that caused them to change color depending on the angle from which one looked. Families, workers and even sentinels often flocked to the wilds outside of the settled areas to camp and frolic, leaving the capitol city of the Sentinels - one of four major factions in the world - largely empty. For those who had regular work and were obligated to stay behind, it was a peaceful season in its own way: the streets were largely empty aside from wisps and treants, who really didn't talk much.

Crossing a massive stone bridge by sabre, two tall women wearing the uniforms of trainee priestesses bounded toward the southern sanctum of the city. Flowing silver robes whipped in the wind behind them, matching the color of the thin chain wrapped around the forehead of each denoting them both as women of rank...but not high rank. They took their time, allowing the sabres to leap around for a bit, testing their balance as the mounts walked precariously close to the edge of the stone bridge.

Of the two, the one with aqua colored hair and a lighter build looked nervously as they approached the stone buildings denoting the capitol's main temple complex. "At this rate, we're only going to be five minutes early to the startup meeting," the pureblooded Kaldorei, Thandra, said. "I don't like cutting it that close; Trainer Tinalith is lax about everything except being on time!"

Her companion, the same height but of a sturdier body type closer to the sentinels, was unperturbed. Of obviously mixed blood, Issinia's silver elven eyes glowed more powerfully than usual, contrasting sharply to trollish facial features. Those sharp features shifted into a confident smile as they reached the end of the bridge. "We won't be late; we're never late. Besides..." The two of them intentionally ran off the path paved with moon blessed stones and leapt over a row of almost sentient hedges that ruffled fearfully beneath the two sabres, and one of the few sentinels on duty glowered at the two young women from afar. "...it's my mom who shared a bunk with Tinalith for a few thousand years; your mom only met her recently. If we get in trouble, I'll bear the brunt of it anyway."

Despite Issinia's confidence, her nervous counterpart didn't appear consoled. As the two of them dove in between two smaller stone buildings in the complex, she rushed to dismount and set her sabre loose in a grassy alleyway and waited impatiently at the top of a set of steps leading to the side entrance of a two story structure. "Letting you absorb all the punishment because Tinalith expects you to live up to your mom's example isn't what I want," Thandra protested as she tapped her foot on the top of the stairs. That Issinia took her time releasing her own sabre and adjusting her sandals did little to assuage Thandra's concerns. "Remember what happened the time we showed up late for the new High Priestess' inauguration?"

"Woman, do I ever! But honestly, scrubbing the dormitory floors wasn't so bad. And at least you didn't have to join me, right?"

Unconvinced, Thandra only continued to wait at the top of the stairs until Issinia appeared ready, and the two of them snuck in to the trainee clinic through a hallway mostly used to store spare wheelchairs and snack carts. It was an old trick they used when they wished to enter or exit unseen, and to the surprise of both dorm mates and sisters in law, it always seemed to work. A few silent seconds later, and the two of them had entered into the waiting area of the trainee clinic - freshly grown straight from the lower basin of Darnassus, with moonstone directly raised up out of the bowels of Teldrassil through joint efforts by the local priestesses and druids.

It was their third home, and their refuge - a place for both of them to provide help and hone their skills. People even from mainland Kalimdor often flew to Teldrassil for healthcare even if they could only find open appointment slots with the trainees - twenty year old priestesses who had never left Teldrassil, the old joke went, and Thandra was ironically just that until she ventured out and fell for Issinia's brother. Issinia, on the other hand, was a mixed child from the Barrens, and had fought hard for a spot at the temple in the capitol. Since they were sisters in law, the administration had planted them in the same dorm room, which both of them preferred anyway; it made living away from family all the easier.

Behind the reception desk was a brand new bureaucrat whose name nobody could remember; most of them tended to keep to themselves, aside from Issinia's fiancé,and the fact that the clinic was brand new and only held a dozen or so patients so far made it seem a bit empty. The green haired young lady barely even noticed them as they walked in.

Jittery and worried, Thandra skipped forward and leaned over both the reception counter and the drowsy woman's head. "Did the meeting start yet?"

"Gah!"

"Sorry!"

The startled woman looked up at her indignantly for a second, but Thandra had a sort of bashful expression she could make with her eyebrows that disarmed just about anybody. After a few seconds of scowling, the bureaucrat lightened up a bit. "If you're referring to the startup meeting for the new rehab program, then no; you gals are both on time. But everyone else was early, so you'd best get in their."

"What? Elune, we're the last ones!" Thandra whined as she left without thanking the greenhead or even nodding.

"Thank you so much," Issinia said to the woman with a wave. Thandra had already bounded down the hall and was almost to the clinic's staff area, which was open to both trainers as well as trainees.

Taking her time, Issinia strode carefully toward the room in question. Technically, all training temples were equally funded and staffed; the most remote temple in Silithus was just as capable of producing quality priestesses (and priests, in that day and age) at their current location, but everybody competed for spots in Darnassus for prestige and the amenities. For Issinia, a perpetual overachiever in the martial side of priestess training, earning a spot there had been easy enough, and the fact that her father was a troll also helped her due to preferences for diversity at the temple; for others, it was a tooth and nail fight all for reasons not related to academics. As Issinia passed by a mural that actually was of Silithus, she couldn't help but chuckle warmly at all the backstabbing that she and Thandra had managed to stay out of.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a single person sitting in the recreation room for patients. Amid the empty tables for chess matches and gazette reading, a single woman wearing the standard silver one piece uniform issued to all long term patients folded her hands in her lap and looked positively bored. Her hair was messily tied in a bun and she appeared a bit tired, though not haggard, as if she hadn't slept well. As Issinia passed by, the woman looked up with amber eyes that would have insinuated druidic power were they not...faded. Issinia's own mother had faded eyes that didn't glow much, but that's because her mother was twelve thousand years old; this woman was obviously much younger, but the fading color in her eyes and hair seemed odd.

For a split second, the tired look faded. Animated as if she'd been presented a gift from a long lost friend, the woman's brow furrowed in an almost mushy way, as if she'd been invisible for so long that a simple glance from Issinia brightened up her day. It was as endearing as it was uncomfortable - Issinia was great on the battlefield, blasting away demons much like the previous High Priestess Whisperwind, but had never been much of a healer. In fact, the main reason for her signing up at the trainee clinic was so she could finally become more balanced in her class. However, at that point in her training, she was still no healer and in fact was even still coping with residual discomfort around the sick and the needy (and, especially, the clingy). As much as she would like to introduce herself to the lonely looking patient, the reality was that she had a meeting to attend, and the overall treatment that the woman was receiving would surely be more valuable than a few token words. Surely.

Leaving the woman to slump back into her chair in disappointment, Issinia hurried into the meeting room just in time to nearly bulldoze the head trainer and her mother's former companion across several millennia.

"Ack! Tinalith, I'm so sorry!"

Reaching down, Issinia grabbed the much smaller woman at the last minute, much to the amusement of her fellow trainees who were already seated. There were only seven of them - including two men, a sight unseen just a few decades ago - and all were wearing the same robes denoting them as beginners in the Sisterhood of Elune. An assistant waited at the front of the rows of chairs, looking rather sheepish as the elder priestess was almost knocked over by a trainee.

"Don't worry about it, Issa; we are all thankful to have you here. Should the Burning Legion ever reform, we'll all have somebody to hide behind." It was the most catty statement that the violet haired priestess had ever made, and garnered many more snickers than it probably should have. "Please take a seat; this meeting shouldn't take long," Tinalith said more firmly, though soft and polite as always.

"Of course, of course," Issinia replied before rushing to grab the nearest empty chair.

Walking toward the front of the room, Tinalith carried the firm elegance and elegant firmness that a priestess of the moon should; strong yet sensitive, commanding yet understanding. That she was also, without a hint of exaggeration, literally the shortest night elf that Issinia had ever seen didn't detract from that aura. Tinalith was even shorter than some humans, and had been the runt of Serenity, the village the woman had shared with Issinia's mother during the Long Vigil, but she never let her diminutive stature affect her; she had the sort of personality that made people want to listen to her talk, rather than do so out of some sense of obligation.

After the obligatory prayer to open the meeting, Tinalith surveyed the group of seven, locking eyes with each to ensure that they were listening. "I've spoke with each of you individually, so you already know what's afoot; this is just a review meeting, if anything." Taking a deep breath, she began sketching a stylized picture of a heart on the chalkboard at the front of the room. "The government has granted us a serious endowment for the first rehabilition program for recovering substance abusers in the history of our faction. As you all know, drug usage carries a greater stigma in our society than perhaps any other on Azeroth; discretion is of the utmost importance, and a lack of it is what caused all but seven candidates - you - to have their applications rejected. No real names shall be used outside of these doors, and you have permission of the higher ups to intentionally lie about your current course of study; we all know what the scriptures say about telling untruths for the greater good.

"Now, on to the program structure. Of the twelve long term patients here, we have seven women and three men. Two of the women are serious cases which I will handle myself; each of the rest of you ladies will be assigned one enrollee in the program to sponsor, and one only. For the gents, it's a bit different, and we try to keep patients paired with counsellors of the same gender; it isn't actually required for the healing process and gender is by no means a hindrance, but research from Pandaria on the topic finds there is a small increase in comfort level for some patients." She turned to the older of the two male priests, a silver haired man who appeared to be a bit older. "Jupiter, I believe you already agreed to sponsor two patients at once, correct?"

"That's correct."

"Good. For the rest of you, it will be one counsellor, one patient. I'll remind you all now to keep detailed notes on the progress of each patient; we'll meet each week for a progress check and to share experiences and successful practices. And if there's one thing I would like to emphasize: while we do monitor the dietary intake and medication of our patients, this is first and foremost an affair of the heart; there are certain aspects of the recovery process which are felt rather than measured. Do not ever lose sight of the fact that your patients are living beings, not test subjects. Yes Thandra?"

"So we're not going to be rotating patients at all?"

"No, certainly not. While it is possible for a patient to switch counsellors mid treatment, research we've obtained from other factions indicates that it does tend to cause delays in the process. Remember, substance abusers are still ill; they are in need of a safe place, a familiar place where they feel they are not lost and without any control over their lives. Consistency is a part of building trust, and we want to keep their treatment as consistent as possible. Each of you will be introduced to the patients you'll be counseling in just a few moments; the basic program is six months minimum, with the possibility of extension due to the fact that each individual will progress at a slightly different rate. So for the next six months, the individuals you're about to meet will be your subjects of personal devotion; your quest is to ensure that they can cope with the hurt they carry from the past, and return to being productive and happy people. Are there any more questions?" After a brief pause, Tinalith nodded. "Good; it seems that my individual meetings with all of you earlier in the week provided most of the needed information. Please, come forward and we'll distribute basic biographical information on your patients before we hold the introductions."

At Tinalith's prompting, her assistant began shuffling forms containing a series of filled in boxes, carefully concealing the names in each from all save the assigned counsellor for each patient. In a carefully organized fashion, six of the trainees all lined up to receive their assigned forms, eager to learn about the people they'd been tasked with helping as part of their final training regimens.

As the only one out of line, Issinia was approached proactively by Tinalith. "A question you'd like to ask in private?" Tinalith asked with a wry smile.

Ears drooping meekly, Issinia felt as exposed as she would had it been her own mother there. "Erm...yes. You know, I just wanted to ask..."

"...about your application for the internship at the temple's mission in Uldum?"

Issinia grinned wide at how easily she'd been read. "Yes," she replied.

Tinalith snorted in amusement and looked down, ever humble despite her millennia of experience. "Issa...you are an incredible combat priestess. You don heavy armor lime your mother or even the late Priestess Whisperwind herself, and offensively, your starfall spell is surprisingly focused and well controlled for your age."

"But..."

"...but, your healing is subpar. And part of being a priestess is that balance; in order to lead, you must do it all. You must be able to charge on sabre back into battle, to wreak havoc on enemy lines when nature is threatened, but also to care for the wounded and the sick. There is no room for euphemisms when we're dealing with people's lives: you need to become a better healer. It is my hope, as well as your family's, that this training course will help you with that."

Nodding, accepting and greatly tamed by the overt constructive criticism, Issinia felt as if she'd been brought back down to Azeroth. "So there's no chance right now?"

"I won't say there's no chance; in the next few months, acceptance letters will be sent out, and Uldum is a difficult location where the missionaries often accept who they can get; but that would result in you leaving your patient midway through treatment, which would be detrimental to you both. There will always be other opportunities to advance your career, especially after you put the proper amount of time into training."

"I know...I know," Issinia sighed. The six others had already taken their forms from the assistant, who had left to run through introductions between counsellors and patients. "Well, since it's just you and me here, could you tell me who it is I'll be helping for the next half a year?"

"Certainly; in fact, you might have already seen her. Anna is a very special case: she was once from a small village like your mother and I, but fell in with the wrong crowd and was...pushed into an unsavory line of work. She has both substance abuse as well as issues relating to abandonment and intentional damage done to her feeling of self worth. She's a wonderful, very special person who could be helped so much by someone with your motivation."

For a few seconds Issinia smiled and felt warmed by the sad description of a woman of similar background in distress. But once the first part of Tinalith's explanation echoed in her mind, she began to worry. "Uh...already seen her...was she a druidess, by any chance?"

"Yes, I do believe she was; she's between my height and yours, dark blue hair with some grey. She was sitting right in the rec room down the hall literally just before the meeting started."

Issinia gulped visibly; the woman she'd clearly blown off and disappointed was the one she was supposed to be treating for emotional damage and feelings of abandonment and low self worth. This was going to be a very tough few months.


	2. Chapter 2

Deep purple drapes were the only sources of color in the room other than the pain white couches. The walls, the floor, even the door were the light grey color typical of Kaldorei stonework. The door opened in the plain room, allowing two women to enter. Tied back in a ponytail, Issinia's indigo mane both clashed with and complemented the drapes, though her gown almost matched the walls. Straightening up her posture, her movements were almost stiff as she tried hard to remain as formal as possible. A confident grin that was almost smug marked her features as she welcomed a patient into the 'safe room' for the first time - a room where anything they said was supposed to be private as long as it didn't involve talk about harming oneself or others.

Anna followed her inside, head hung a bit low as had proven to be the woman's habit over the past few days. Issinia's previous attempts to encourage her to correct her posture and put on a smile had backfired somewhat, and the trainee priestess had figured out that her sponsored patient wanted to take things slow - hence the usage of the safe room.

Almost to the point of obedience, Anna said nothing as she was welcomed inside and directed toward one of the two couches. Both were rather comfortable, but the patient sat hunched over on the edge of hers.

Issinia leaned back on the couch opposite her patient. "These are quite nice, aren't they? It's great when you lean back and relax." As if to demonstrate, she laid her overstuffed clipboard on her lap and leaned back. "Ahhhh...now you try!"

Faded amber eyes shifting left and right, Anna appeared resolutely uncomfortable. "Do I have to?"

Resisting the urge to break professional boundaries and pinch the woman's cheeks, Issinia settled for a little laugh. "No, no, it was only a suggestion. Don't worry Anna, you're safe as long as you're here." Sitting up straight again, Issinia looked over her clipboard and tried to regulate her breathing in anticipation of her first private therapy session. "Are you ready?"

Confused by the fact that her opinion had been asked, Anna looked up shyly as if it were a trick question. "Well..." Her voice trailed off after she'd started to answer, and Issinia took the pause to mean that the patient didn't intend to answer.

"I'll need to go over the basic biographical information again. I know we discussed the basics casually, but I'll need to officially record your answers."

Shutting her mouth quickly after being interrupted, Anna looked suspicious. "Okay."

"Great! I like that energy." The patient's puzzled look went unnoticed as Issinia flipped through her papers, proud that she'd used one of the catch phrases she'd been planning. "Alright, so Anna, we're going by your alias due to privacy preferences, correct?"

For a moment, Anna just folded her hands in her lap, her eyes darting from the number tattooed on her wrist to Issinia's almost intimidating smile. As if she thought it were a trick question, the patient began to speak, cautiously at first. "Well...there is a measure of...stress. And anxiety. If I give out my real name, then eventually word would reach my village that I'm still alive. Because...well, it's been forty five years since I left home, and I managed to avoid encountering anybody from Maestra Province since then. For sure they assumed that I perished while adventuring. And..." Her voice became a bit quieter, though outwardly she maintained her composure. "...things happen for a reason. After all that's happened...sometimes I feel like it's better if they think I passed away."

Writing furiously on her notes, Issinia thrust herself fully into the task as she undertook it for the first time. "Alright: patient possesses privacy preferences...wants to be called by alias, which is Anna. Got it." Her voice was clinical and cold, as if she were really trying extra hard to sound professional.

Anna's mouth hung open for a second; she was about to say more, but was so taken aback by her counsellor's behavior that she wondered if it were some sort of special therapy tactic. Forcing herself to persevere, she tried to speak and find out what exactly her counselor wanted. "Yes. For better or for worse...I am Anna now. That person from before...that young woman from the village is not sitting here in front of you now," she sighed.

"Good. So Anna it is!" Issinia chirped, putting on her best positive face even though she was looking at her notes instead of Anna, who looked like she'd just been slapped across the face. "Moving along, I'll need other basic info. You're from a small village in Maestra Province, a grove of forty people, and you were born just after the War of the Shifting Sands, which would make you almost 1,100 years old. Yes?"

"Yes...that's correct." At first Anna fell silent while Issinia jotted down more notes, appearing visibly embarrassed as if she were some sort of third wheel next to the notes. Eventually a light bulb seemed to light up over her head, and she licked her lips in apprehension as she prepared to speak without prompting. "Umm...I, you see...I spoke to some of the other people here. And apparently...well, your mother is from the same village as Priestess Tinalith? A grove with only twenty five people originally?"

Looking up and smiling congenially, Issinia prepared one of many speeches she'd prepared in case of various different events. In this instance, it was a statement she took as a possible road to clouding her objectivity. "During our sessions, it's generally better to keep the focus on helping the patient; after all, we're here to help you, right?"

Sensing that her attempt to reach out had been deflected, Anna folded in on herself and stiffened her upper lip to defend herself. "Okay," she droned in a flat tone, retreating into her shell.

"Great! This is good progress. Alright, so you're from a small village...and you were an archer during the Long Vigil; you respecced to a...druidess of the talon, right? After the Third War, I mean?"

Pensive, Anna folded her arms in front of her in a subtle fashion. Trying her best to conceal the movement and hold still, she pretended to look at her knees. "Yes...I carried the bow so important to our people when our professions were assigned to us. Once immortality ended and our society opened up, the world seemed so..." For a few seconds she fell into deep thought, searching for the exact words to use. "...so open. So awe inspiring and big. I took up the mantle of the sky, or the totem of the crow as it was called back then, because I thought it would help me to explore that big wide world. You know, the sky is so much more enticing than the sea - I thought I would be able to see the world that we'd once hidden away from."

Issinia scribbled like mad on her pad, noting down the most important keywords and missing the wistful, almost nostalgic look in Anna's eyes as the fallen druidess recalled a much more tender, simpler time. "Druids of the talon...big sky...open world...got it." She looked up from her notes at the same time that Anna's two faded amber eyes fell on her. "This is good stuff, Anna! Now that we're done with your profession, could you tell me where you spent the following four decades after your initial training?"

Anna blinked in disbelief, but it was only fleeting. Gradually her expression pulled into one of familiar disappointment, like an exhaustion that she'd experienced many times before. "Yes...I can tell you," she replied flatly, most of the liveliness sucked out of her voice. "I accepted a job as a crew member on a ship. I thought I would see the world since I couldn't literally fly across the entire ocean. I was eventually offered..."

"Drugs, correct? Were the crew members the ones who offered you the drugs to which you were addicted?" Issinia asked, ensuring that she didn't end her sentence with a preposition but failing to realize that her forward leaning posture startled her patient.

Crossing her legs defensively, Anna covered the number tattoo with her opposite hand and began rubbing her wrists. "I was offered some bad things."

"Ah, I guess you're not quite ready to say it out loud, right?" Issinia asked out loud, remembering a chapter she'd read in a course book about recovering substance abusers often preferring not to discuss their addictions out loud with unfamiliar people.

Frozen in place, Anna gripped the top of her wrist and held absolutely still, even forgetting to breathe for a few seconds. "Can we...can we talk about that later?" she asked quietly.

"Of course, whatever you prefer," Issinia replied casually. Remembering another point in her classes, she held rather intense eye contact with the increasingly shrinking patient. "You can exercise control over your own life, Anna," Issinia said in the most inspiring voice she could muster. When her patient didn't answer, she worried that she might have come off, just maybe, a tad bit too strong and worked to regain the control over the conversation that she'd previously been exercising so well. "Alright Anna, typically these introductory sessions are rather short, but what we need to do now is your timeline. It's like the map of your life! Would you like to do your timeline?"

As if the life has been drained out of her, Anna just continued to stare at her knees, hugging herself closely as she avoided Issinia's gaze. All that nostalgia and wistfulness from earlier was gone, assumed by her counselor to be a sign that she simply wanted to talk about serous, objective facts about her biography. "Okay," she droned apathetically. She couldn't have sounded less enthusiastic had she been an Undercity throw rug saleswoman.

Half of an agonizingly slow hour later, the two emerged from the safe room and entered the halls of the trainee clinic again. Beaming and feeling like she was a million gold pieces, Issinia clutched her clipboard close, proud that she'd pried a grand total of four incomplete sentences out of her patient across the span of thirty minutes. The threadbare timeline was embellished with vine like designs and little colored hearts and stars, and she continuously reread her few lines over and over again.

"See you tomorrow for our yoga class, Anna. You did great today!" Placing her hand strategically on Anna's shoulder, Issinia stared her directly in the eye and grinned in a way she thought was reassuring. One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, four. "You are a good person, Anna," she said before letting go, remembering to use her patient's name in almost every sentence due to a tip she remembered from the bottom left hand corner of one of her textbooks from five years ago.

Ears drooping and slouching posture pulling her toward the ground, Anna nodded shyly in response. "Thank you, Issa...I mean, counselor Hearthglen," she replied, correcting herself at the last minute. Taking her leave, she shuffled down the hallway and off to a corner somewhere to stare at the wall for a while.

Unaware and on cloud nine, Issinia nearly knocked over another short person as she went to the staff room to meet Thandra for lunch. Her sister in law was alone, smiling more warmly than she had been in a long time as tears streamed down her cheeks and onto her notes. She didn't even look up as her relative come roommate walked in.

"Aww...Thandra, was there a problem during your session?" Issinia asked while offering her a tissue.

Surprised but still happy, Thandra laughed and sniffled at the same time. "Oh, no...but thank you, Issa. Today's session was just so-" She stopped to blow her nose before continuing. "I had no idea the first session would be so perfect. My patient is a sentinel who experienced an episode in front of her mother who was also her commander at the lodge...well, wait, I guess I'm not supposed to say that. But from the very first minute I could feel e dry thing she was feeling, and we were both so open in sharing our experiences. I think I cried even more than she did. She's so strong to come here after all she went though in front of her peers. I feel like I love her so much; I'll never give up until she's better."

Skeptical of Thandra's perception of the situation due to her obviously subjective methods, Issinia withheld judgment for the time being. "Yes, I'm quite happy for you, Thandra. But hey, let's relax over lunch. This was a long morning and we deserve to go take a break."

Collecting up their notes together, the two sisters in law prepared to clock out for the day. "Yes, yes, you're right," Thandra replied as the two of them left out through the side door.

Cheery all the way to the restaurant, Issinia couldn't help but walk tall after the bang up job she felt she'd done on her first counseling session. Clearly, she and Anna had connected on an even deeper level than she'd expected.


	3. Chapter 3

Every time Issinia sat in that staff meeting room, she felt as if Tinalith was imparting significant information to them. Even when she repeated things she'd said previously or merely asked for progress updates and best practices, each meeting felt unique in its own way. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, but their trainer and the rehab program's leader always seemed to add a new aspect to their meetings that made them worth attending. On that particular evening, it might have been the way she drew silly stick figures to illustrate her points rather than formal diagrams like she often did.

The seven trainee counsellor's couldn't help but snicker at the way she added smiley faces to all of them.

"So the most important thing to remember from tonight's best practices meeting is this: matters of the heart can't be measured as easily as chemical imbalances and medication regimes. Sometimes, you just have to feel the patient's progress rather than write numbers in a little box." Moving toward the abstract, Tinalith drew a series of intersecting wavy lines that were apparently meant to represent feeling rather than measurement.

"It's been two weeks since we started; I trust you all have set regular schedules for private counseling sessions as well as activities with your sponsored patients, yes?" she asked as a follow up to her little summary of what they'd discussed that night.

After a round of confirmations, Thandra raised her hand. "Is it possible to schedule a y group activities for them? Like, exercises in their social skills?"

Tinalith smiled and considered the suggestion for a moment. "Let's focus on getting to know our patients first. Once the first month is complete and we know the boundaries of their respective comfort zones, we can consider organizing formal activities. Until then, try to keep things between you and them; they can choose when and how to interact with each other on their own, under the supervision of our head warden."

"Ah...alright, so they need to get comfortable with us first?"

"With you, and in their new environment. Keep in mind that our only patients who checked themselves into the program willingly were yours and one of Jupiter's; all other patients were either rescued from crisis situations or ordered to enter rehabilitation by the government. Remember: we aren't as short lived as the races who have been responsible for most of the research we're basing this program on. Time is not as short for us as it is for them."

"Got it."

"Great. Okay, so if there aren't any more questions, then I'll leave you all to your regular duties; if you aren't engaging in sessions, then please work on keeping your files on each patient up to date, remember your rotational duties keeping the facility tidy and stocked of supplies, and hold to your assigned general supervision hours. Meeting adjourned!"

As the other staff members mingled and filed out of the staff room, Issinia hung back in anticipation of their trainer walking by. Tinalith likely expected her to do so, as the much older priestess approached her directly. "Good job on healing the receptionist's cut the other day; the poor woman really scraped her hand hard against the latch on that drawer. It took real skill to seal that up."

"Why...thank you so much! I tried my best," Issinia chirped in response, sincerely flattered by the complement from her elder. "I really have been working on my healing at any opportunity; perhaps the work here has been helping me."

"Perhaps...I'm sure that eventually, you'll be ready to protect the mission at Uldum," Tinalith replied casually, though her raised eyebrow warned the younger priestess not to jump for joy just yet. "Just remember that all things will come in good time...and you have somebody here, now, who relies on you."

"Yes, yes, of course," Issinia replied just as casually, though not entirely naturally. A light bulb went off in her head as she realized she had a way to demonstrate just how dedicated and not distracted from her work she was. "In fact, Anna and I actually planned a small activity tonight; we're going outside the building for the first time since she arrived."

Tinalith's single raised eyebrow bobbed curiously. "Not beyond the walls of our facility's orchard, right?"

"You bet you; don't worry, I'm all about protocol. I believe that Anna also realizes that it isn't yet time for her to venture out into the world again. It will just be a brief nature walk, during which I'll try to elicit as much information on her as possible."

Satisfied, the program leader nodded and moved to tend to her administrative duties. "I'll leave you to it then," she chortled in her way out.

Taking her own leave, Issinia forewent socializing with her colleagues and began to look for Anna. The back of the facility's property consisted of an apple and berry orchard surrounded by a high wall, granting them an open view of the sky but protecting them from seeing or even hearing visitors to the temple complex, who could possibly prove to be distractions or even inadvertent triggers through their words. And although the government was funding the rehab program, the fact that they were at least partially self sufficient in terms of their food was considered a point of pride for both the staff and the patients; they often worked at the orchard together, using the normal and productive activity as a source of structure during the many months of treatment.

Down two separate hallways, Issinia found the small anteroom before the exit to the back; a long opening sort of like a window without glass provided a good, broad view of the orchard. Anna waited alone on a chair facing the opening, and didn't seem entirely aware of her surroundings at first.

"Anna...are you ready for our little walk and talk?"

Slowly drawn back to reality, Anna turned her head to face her counselor. Her blank state was replaced with a cocktail of emotion, diverse but not contradictory. A slight hint of fear at her counselor' outgoing nature jostled for control against a nascent trust that had been built, albeit slowly. More than anything, though, did an almost pitiful joy become apparent; the simple happiness of a lonely person realizing that they hadn't been forgotten.

"Hi," she replied meekly. "Yes."

After helping her stand up, Issinia led her outside toward the orchard, where they were currently the only occupants. Not all patient and counselor pairs scheduled their activities and therapy sessions at the same time, which was for the best; the goal was to help the program participants feel less like schoolchildren or wards of the state and more like functioning adults sharing their experiences with a sponsor.

A light breeze reached them over the top wall, and the normal sense of calm that settled over the usually busy capitol during that season was magnified in the orchard. The two of them walked slowly and chatted about local news and happenings around the facility for a few minutes before Issinia began to poke around.

"So Anna, you mentioned something to me last week...after your experience on the cruise ship where your, let's say troubles began, you spent some time in Outland. Right?"

Appearing rather relaxed at first, Anna displayed no discomfort regarding the topic. "Yes. I...left the cruise ship for Shattrath, which was where I spent the second half of my time outside Kalimdor," she replied cautiously but confidently. Issinia jumped for joy inside, proud of the firmness with which Anna could speak; the week before, she'd close up after just a few sentences when her 'troubles' were brought up.

"And you spent more than two decades on that cruise ship before you escaped, correct?"

Though one of her ears twitched, Anna still appeared confident, and strode with her hands at her sides casually. Ever so subtly, she began walking a little bit closer to Issinia as if seeking comfort, and her counselor reacted by locking arms with her. "No. I...no," Anna answered.

One of Issinia's medium length indigo eyebrows raised. "Which part was incorrect?"

"Both parts were...not what happened. I was shared between several cruise ships owned by the same cartel. And I never escaped. I was..." Her voice trailed off before she could finish her sentence, and her formerly limp arm tightened a bit as she leaned more closely toward Issinia.

Sensing a creeping discomfort that her patient was attempting to suppress, Issinia leaned closer as well and looked directly at the shorter woman. "Nobody else is here, Anna. It's okay."

The two of them walked a bit further up the second row of apple trees before the patient continued. "I didn't escape the cartel. They...uh...fired me."

"Fired you? From the cruise?"

"Yes. They fired me from the cruise and then..." Anna's vision trained straight ahead, avoiding Issinia's invasive gaze as much as possible. "...then they gave me to the club in Shattrath."

"The nightclub you started working at on Outland, right?" Anna nodded in response to Issinia's question, but continued to cling to her arm silently. "So they negotiated for you to work there?" she asked euphemistically; she knew the sort of 'work' Anna had been involved in from the report of the sentinels who had rescued her, but was at least careful enough not to bring that point up until the patient did.

For the first time ever, Issinia felt the poor woman shake. Until then she'd been rather aloof, and would always shut the door before any serious topics could be broached. Although medication for her nerves and addiction as well as creative activities and job training occupied most of Anna's waking moments, the short counseling sessions during the week were supposed to be when the deeper issues of her emotional healing could be discussed. Those counseling sessions had always ended without much progress for reasons Issinia honestly just couldn't figure out; she followed all the instructions and did everything by the book, yet something always caused Anna to feel pushed away. But for the first time, as they rounded the second row of trees, a hint of vulnerability showed beneath the shell she'd encased herself in.

"No...no. No. They didn't negotiate, no. That wasn't it. But that's where I was sent."

Issinia's heart pounded in her chest as the excitement welled up inside of her. Finally, she felt as if she were succeeding, and it was a chore not to grab Anna right then and there and begin demanding answers about her past. Instead, she took a deep breath and forced herself to use her professional voice.

"How were you sent there, Anna?"

Gulping deeply enough in her throat for a strained sound to echo inside, Anna continued to shake but regained enough control of herself to speak evenly. "The cartel sent me there because they agreed with the club." Right after her sentence, she shifted her head back and then let it hang low again, shutting her lips tightly.

Delighted by the progress, Issinia worked hard to ensure that her joy at the difficult confession didn't show. "Did you agree to it?" she asked, trying her best to sound professional and distant. Ever so slightly, Anna shook her head in a movement that was barely even detectable, but she didn't talk. Issinia was sure she'd reached a milestone. "Were you given the choice to go or not to go?"

Despite the fact that it only took Anna a few seconds to slow to a complete stop, the change still felt gradual. Steps reduced in distance until they became shuffles, and eventually the movement stopped all together, and Anna shook even more noticeably and she closed her eyes tightly enough for the strain in the muscles of her face to be heard.

In one fluid motion, she turned in to Issinia, leaning her head against the counselor's shoulder as if seeking comfort. Huddling against Issinia like a child running to her mother, Anna curled up and tried to become as small as possible, tugging on the counselor's gown as she sought some sort of anchor. When Issinia wrapped her arms around Anna, the patient followed suit, clinging to her for dear life as if she'd fall off the edge of a cliff were she to let go. Bit by bit, the shaking increased in speed and forcefulness as Anna held on, her breaths becoming hard and ragged. Those hard breaths turned into weak sobs as Anna actually began to cry, showing emotion more intensely than Issinia had ever witnessed from the woman during the previous two weeks combined. No words were shared, nor were any necessary; much more about the reality of Anna's condition was revealed in the way she hugged Issinia so naturally, finally able to reveal just how much she'd been mistreated during her days as a base slave.

So enamored was Issinia in the revelation that she didn't even realize how much her own posture had shifted when she reached around, pulled her notepad out of her pocket and began jotting down notes behind Anna's back.

Determined and driven, Issinia didn't even notice how quickly the sobs stopped. "What...what are you doing?" Anna sniffled.

Mouthing the words as she finished the last significant line, Issinia continued leaning in to the hug even though her focus was with her notepad. "Don't worry, this is all confidential. Keeping detailed notes is standard practice at drug counseling centers."

Ragged breaths turned back into steady, almost cold rhythmic respiration as Anna became stiff. "Okay," she replied dryly, almost seeming unstable due to the speed at which her entire demeanor changed. She continued holding on to Issinia, albeit stiffly, until the counselor leaned back and returned her pen to the clip on the side of her notebook.

Undaunted by the blank stare she received from the patient, Issinia put on her best reassuring face and counted the right number of seconds before speaking. "Anna...were you forced to work at those seedy nightclubs?" she asked directly.

Anna blinked and furrowed her brow as if she were in disbelief. "My views were not considered," she stated plainly and bluntly, devoid of emotion.

"Okay...alright, that's a very formal answer. So Anna, when you were-"

"Can we talk about this later...please?" Anna asked sheepishly.

Issinia took a moment to examine the suddenly distant patient, but worked hard to contain her surprise at the reaction she'd received. "Oh...sure. Whatever you want." Glancing around, she tried to think of ways to get Anna walking and talking again, absolutely confounded as to what had caused her to shut down.

Issinia paced back and forth in the dorm room, folding her arms behind her back as she tried to recount all the details of the night's scheduled session with Anna. "I don't understand what went wrong!" she exclaimed in exasperation. "I follow all the protocols, I never push unless she brings something up...why does she shut down every time we start to make progress!"

Thandra was in her pajamas, lying on one of the two beds adjacent to each other. Neither of the two sisters in law were picky about who slept where and frequently changed beds (or even slept on piles of blankets on the floor) at random. "Issa...can I answer your question with a question?" Thandra asked from behind the imported copy of the Thunderbluff Gazette she'd been reading.

Throwing her hands up in the air, Issinia resigned herself to whatever game her brother's wife wanted to play. "Go ahead, shoot."

A few seconds passed before Thandra spoke. "Did you start taking notes again in the middle of a session?" she asked almost nonchalantly.

"Note taking is an important part of building a case on a patient!" Issinia blurted out defensively. "We learned that in second year!"

"Calm down."

"How else can I take a holistic view of the patient's healing process if I don't have notes!"

"If you understand your patient well, you can take notes immediately after a session. That's what I learned from Tinalith."

"Wha...but then I might forget some details!"

Letting the gazette fall into her lap, Thandra finally looked up. "Then that's the risk you run for the betterment of the patient. Issa, this isn't a contest to see who can tick the most checks in boxes or follow the most protocols. Healing is a process, and it isn't always an objectively measurable one. You have to feel the situation out, and feel what your patient is feeling."

Issinia turned toward the window, staring out over the minor public square between the dorms for priestesses and priests, the liturgical library and the classroom building that the two women had studied at for the previous six years before graduating on to their practical internship. "How?" she asked, hoping for a deep, profound answer from her usually thoughtful if slightly unworldly sister in law.

Instead, she was met with a rather unpleasant, unrefined sound right after the door to the latrine across the hall closed. At some point when Issinia had been staring out the window, Thandra had quietly risen from bed, left their dorm room open and entered the toilet directly across from them. "If you have to ask for a straight answer, then you're thinking too hard...oops, wait a minute..."

Issinia covered her ears as she looked back out the window, wishing her offensive magic could lead to a starfall that would send magical answers raining down on her.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: triggers in this chapter. Um...from more than one angle. Though my IRL experience counseling others was quite different from Anna's case, this chapter and a few more to come contain images of oppression, violation, assault, drug abuse and slavery based on real cases that I've been told of personally (without names mentioned). Discretion is advised; I'd prefer a reader not to continue if such topics hit too closely to home.

For the second time, Issinia led Anna down one of the more isolated hallways of the substance abuse treatment center toward a familiar yet nearly hidden door. Nobody passed them on their way there - the staff members had all agreed on a staggered schedule that allowed therapy sessions for the various patients to be scheduled at different times. All for the better; Anna had proven to be an intensely private person, and didn't even like other patients to be remotely aware of the times when she was being brought for one of her counseling sessions. As the two of them walked toward the safe room, she continued to cling to Issinia's arm like a child, afraid that she might be seen.

This time, however, she wasn't alone in feeling exposed. Walking tall (though she was already taller than all of the staff except Jupiter and her fiancé Narrus), Issinia projected a confidence she didn't actually possess that evening when she had pulled Anna out of her sculpting activity hour a bit early. For the first time, Issinia entered a therapy session...and brought with her absolutely nothing to write with or on.

Those same deep purple drapes had been undisturbed, as if nobody else had used the room since the two of them had last been there a month ago. It had been used, of course, but the staff did their best to leave it plain and tidy after each session. Once the soundproof door was shut, Issinia ushered Anna onto the opposite couch from the one she'd sat on before.

"You know, you really have quite the talent for sculpting," she began the session by saying. "That eagle was so realistic, like a little grey version of the actual thing."

Uneasy but clearly forcing herself to cooperate, Anna bowed her head down congenially. "Thanks. My village was near a river, so we always made our pottery from clay during the Long Vigil instead of from wicker like most other groves."

"Well, it's art in your hands. You could sell that stuff, you know," Issinia said while poking Anna in the foot (the woman had been halfway lying down on the couch) and grinning.

"No, no, I'm not that good!"

"That's what they all say!" Issinia chortled, finally getting the patient to loosen up a bit. After a few more choice words and light jokes shared back and forth, Issinia broke into the main topic before any sort of silence could fall over them. "Alright Anna, since we're here now, you can probably guess that I wish to discuss a few things with you." Moving strategically, Issinia shifted on her couch in a way to let her gown stretch out and reveal that she had no pockets nor any bags, and that her hands were free of a notepad or pen. It worked, and she noticed Anna visibly glancing at her empty hands. "We've done your timeline previously and you've told me the basics of your biography. But what I want to know now are your feelings - how you felt during particular points of your life. And since we've spoken about your life during the Vigil and when you went through your trials with the Druids of the Talon after the Third War, you can probably guess what I'm interested in next."

Holding still bravely despite their previous misunderstandings, Anna looked down and nodded politely. "You want to know about how I started work with the cartel," she sighed knowingly.

"It's for the best, Anna. You see...all those sessions we had before, they were just...preliminary meetings to note down your basic biographical info." It was a white lie, but Issinia had practiced it numerous times with Thandra over the past week, justifying it by telling herself that it was all to make the patient feel comfortable. "Now is when the real work begins - when we get to know each other a little better, and we begin to move on from those negative experiences that have been holding us down. So of course, I'll want to know about how you were feeling during such a significant time of your life."

Breathing in a controlled manner, Anna remained relatively still but didn't appear to be either panicking or shutting down yet. "Well, you already know that I finished my trials at a smaller town in Moonglade - mainly just storm crow form," she said softly. Her expression turned a bit whimsical as she showed the slightest hint of emotion. "Everybody always wants to learn to shapeshift first, you know. It isn't as critical a skill as healing wounds or protecting oneself, but...well, who could blame us? Everybody wants to transform into an animal!"

"I can imagine," Issinia chuckled along with her.

Hope brushed across Anna's features. "Do you ever wish you could turn into an animal?" she asked with such a strong sincerity that Issinia was able to withhold her laughter at a question she found absurd.

"Well, uh...yeah, sometimes. But anyway, Anna-"

"If you could turn into any animal, what would it be?"

For a second she thought the patient was trying to make a joke, but the curiosity on Anna's light blue face showed that she truly did want to know. "Well, I suppose I'd want to turn into a swan." Just as she saw Anna'a lips puckering to form the word 'why,' Issinia jumped in to keep the discussion on track. "But remember, this isn't about me: this is all about helping you. That's the real focus here, right?"

Anna failed to conceal the slight measure of disappointment that knit itself across her long eyebrows. "Right...you're right."

"Okay then, let's get started!" Issinia chirped, trying to compensate for Anna's lack of motivation with an extra dose of her own. "So you learned to shift into bird form before you learned anything else of your class, but obviously, you were an archer for many millennia before that, right?"

"Yes, that's right. I knew the basics of survival, combat and tracking; at the time, I was...I was already connected to the balance of nature." Anna looked down at her knees again when she reached that part, and Issinia began to fear that she'd lost the poor woman already before she thankfully persevered. "So my initial training supplemented that; I honestly thought I was capable of handling myself in the world, especially after I learned to comfortably shift into a storm crow and fly."

"And so you left Moonglade after that?"

"That's right. There's a port in Moonglade, believe it or not; a hidden trail leads to a little seaside village where druids specializing in underwater forms live. They aren't open for trade, though, so I knew that if I wanted to travel then the easiest way was Darkshore."

"And you ended up in Old Auberdine?"

"Yes...not the new, rebuilt one. It all started at Old Auberdine. That's where...where I first joined the cartel."

"And I bet that was a big step for you, being someone from the old world to join an international organization with no political loyalties."

Though not quite uplifted, Anna at least seemed to regain that sense of motivation she'd lost after attempting to breach Issinia's professional shell. "It was a huge step; it was like I was born again into the brave new world our people faced after we lost our immortality. Because since we're mortal, I figured we might as well embrace our new place in the universe, right? I felt I was being...like, proactive."

"So the cartel helped you to feel like you were in control of your own destiny?"

"Why...yes! Yes, that's...well, I never thought of it like that before now, but that's exactly what it felt like, looking back. Our eternal lifespans were taken from us, the region where half our population was taken from us - at that time, our isolation was taken from us...the lack of control was so scary. And so I guess I felt that if I chose to meet this new world on my own terms, it was somehow less scary. And it was near the docks..." Anna continued to smile as she recalled her story, but there was less energy behind it,many almost less sincerity. It was as if she were forcing herself to smile, although she didn't need to try that hard that early on. "The cartel wasn't anything official; they didn't provide identification cards or officially recognized offices like the goblin run cartels, so they were just in a boat that had paid for a spot at the public dock. The humans and dwarves congregated around there, but none of the other locals would go near the ship because of the foreign music being played from below the decks, and the sentinels were a bit dismissive toward the customers. And I saw that, how no other children of the stars dared to go near the vessel, and I thought: that's where I'm going. I'll be the first one."

There was a slight lull in the conversation after that. Anna looked down at the floor and held her weak smile in the same position, but Issinia had been trained well enough to recognize that the sincerity behind it was fading fast. Internally she longed for her textbooks right then and there so she could flip through them during the session, but something told her that it wouldn't be the greatest of ideas. Fearing that too much silence would kill the mood, Issinia tried to fill in the gaps.

"So what did you find once you entered? How did the crew react toward you?"

Humming deep in her throat, Anna appeared stable enough. The topic had certainly depressed her, but she was obviously trying to persevere as well - not so much to please Issinia as to simply speak of what had happened out loud for the first time.

"They were wonderful. So wonderful. Nobody looked at me in a bad way, and they weren't talking too loudly or trying to touch my hand like most outlanders tend to do. It was like they knew a bit about our culture, and did their best to respect it."

"And did they offer you work right away?"

"More or less. They hinted at it, and I took the bait because I thought I had hit the jackpot - that's how the outlanders phrase it. Right from that night I joined the crew; I didn't even go back home for preparations because I'd gone to Old Auberdine with the intention to leave; all I had to do was check out of my room at the inn, and I had become a deckhand and cook. I knew how to bake, which was a big deal for them - the rest of the crew were lousy cooks. They showed me the other parts of the job, and I was allowed to socialize with all the passengers who went to the ship to gamble. They felt that off duty, the crew members added to the atmosphere."

"It sounds like things were going well at first."

"At first. But, ah, that didn't last for very long. About a month later we docked in the Swamp of Sorrows, and that's when the truth came out; just a month in." Anna took a deep breath and seemed to reconsider what she was saying before she continued. "I hadn't even planned what I would do with my life next; it was only a month into the job, which was still a short amount of time for an elf, even a newly mortal one."

"And how exactly did the truth come out? Did you hear it from your coworkers?"

Over the previous few sentences, Anna's smile had begun to slip, giving way to a straight line formed by her stiff lips. Upon hearing Issinia's question, any hint of a smile was gone completely, and the frown began pushing to take hold.

Shaking her head, she shifted into a normal sitting position. "No. Not really. Some of them were there at the port...and they..." She cut her sentence short, though there was no sense of disturbance in her voice. It might have been preemptive, meant to prevent any such disturbance from growing intense enough to be noticed. "I didn't hear it from coworkers, not really, no."

"How did you hear about it, then?" Issinia asked softly, leaning forward not to be intrusive so much as to demonstrate that the conversation could be quiet, meant only for the two of them. "Or as you said, how did the truth come out?"

On instinct, Anna leaned forward and drew closer to Issinia as well, though she didn't seem to notice that she'd done so. "The management told me," she replied even more quietly.

"In person, or were you just ushered from one room to another?"

"Yes to both," Anna replied. "The captain of the ship I'd been on just told me that I was needed in a different ship, and when I switched I naturally went to the quarters of the new captain to find out where I would be staying. And so that's when I found out."

"How did they explain it to you? Did they sugar coat the situation at all?"

"Not at all, not even close. They were totally and completely honest. They didn't use obscene language, which is part of what made it so hard to believe...if they'd used dirty words to explain the things I'd have to do, then...well..."

When Anna stopped talking and held still, Issinia felt her own heart rate increase. For a week she'd practiced with Thandra for this moment, and now it was there. Many of the tips she'd received had seemed subjective, or too informal to use in a therapy session. But so far, she hadn't experienced the success some of her colleagues had described, and she was determined to find a way to connect with her patient beyond the level of simple chatting. Taking a calculated risk, Issinia reached forward and held Anna's hand.

"...then you would have found it easier to believe they were serious?" Issinia asked, trying her best to coax the patient along.

Surprised though not unpleasantly so, Anna's eyes drifted down toward her counselor's hand. It was the most personal move Issinia had made so far; prior to that night, she'd always thought of the distance between them as a matter of professional protocol. But when Anna felt the hand of another person close around hers, the tension in her features and shoulders somehow loosened up a bit.

"Yes. If they just came out using the F word, describing sex acts in detail, I would have known they were sick freaks and maybe even could have...run away. But that isn't what happened. The captain was this human woman - part of the shocking thing was that so many other women were involved. It wasn't just men forcing this on us. And she just said, like, I would be one of their working women. She described it politely like it wasn't a big deal, but the language..." Anna's mouth continued moving for half a second, but no sound came out. She didn't appear choked up so much as simply experiencing difficulty describing the revelation out loud for the first time. Of course, Issinia knew the general story from the report of the sentinels who had rescued Anna from a roadside tavern basement in Outland, but so far only those third party accounts were what they knew. For the first time in forty years, Anna very well could be telling another living soul the darkness which she had never told anyone about at all.

When the patient's breathing became a little faster, Issinia stood up and did something that made the pace of her own breathing increase. She sat on the same couch as Anna, right next to her, as if they were two friends chatting about something. It broke every rule she'd set for herself previously, but the way Anna looked her in the eye despite the difficulty of the topic for her implied that the calming effect was working.

"What was wrong with the language she used?"

Suddenly more animated, Anna's gaze moved between Issinia and the floor. Visibly nervous but reassured at the same time, her countenance was an odd combination that reflected the internal conflict the woman must have been feeling. "She made it very clear in the words she used that they weren't seeking my input. Just: this is what you're doing from now on, so please get ready. And...before that I hadn't noticed it but, uh, the others, my coworkers, had moved around me. And again, some of them were women, there were four of them. And one was one of our people...that hurt so much. A man, a druid even, but he shaved his beard and hair off which looked so ugly. And...then..." Once again, Anna stopped talking, though this time her discomfort was more palpable. She squeezed onto Issinia's hand reflexively and even let her ears droop low, complimenting her increased rate of breathing to create a rather pained display.

"Anna, it's okay to say it out loud. No matter what happened, it was not your fault, and it was not an escapable situation. You shouldn't feel like you failed, or..." Issinia struggled herself for a moment, fighting against both her panic that she was losing the patient and her fear that she would use the wrong words and come off as patronizing. "...or that you even could have avoided what happened to you. Many people in your situation end up even worse. You have nothing to be ashamed of; you were misled."

Issinia promptly stopped, worried that she was talking too much. She didn't have to search for a reaction, however; Anna appeared sincerely touched by the effort, if not entirely convinced. She gulped visibly as she occasionally tended to do, and when she breathed again there was a bit of a sniffle in her voice.

"Thank you," she squeaked in reply. Nodding her head a few times, she regained her composure and tried to continue. "The others were all around me. And I thought it was some kind of a bad joke, but the new captain just got firm with me. She wasn't even mean or serious; just firm, like she was disciplining a child. I don't remember the exact words but that's whe she threatened me with the...medicine."

"She meant the drugs?"

"Yes...yes. The others all grabbed me. Even the two other women, even the other night elf, they grabbed me and held me down in the chair," Anna said, her breathing and voice becoming ragged again as she continued her story. "And they weren't even in a rush; the captain took her time pulling out the drugs, like they weren't even afraid that I could do anything; like they didn't even think they needed to hide what they were doing. The door to her quarters was even open, and I think the cabin boy even walked by. And I just started crying and crying...I kept asking them why they were doing that to me, and I tried to bargain with them." The muscles in Anna's cheeks and chin began to creak, and Issinia found herself to be the one acting on instinct as she put her arm around her patient's shoulder. "But they wouldn't listen to me, and the other night elf told me to be quiet in Darnassian. And they were holding me and they wouldn't let me move; I felt so stupid because a few seconds before that maybe I could have tried to run."

"There was..." Issinia cleared her throat, confused as to why she suddenly felt like she had post nasal drip. "There was nothing you could have done, and no way you could have predicted what would happen. Don't blame yourself for their crimes."

"They didn't give me the chance to do anything anyway; they held me down hard, like, they crushed by arms and shoulders like they were trying to warm me. And the whole time the captain was preparing the drugs, and kept telling me the details of the things I would have to do like it wasn't a big deal. And-" Anna's entire body shivered at the thought, and she leaned her head on Issinia's shoulder. "And that's when she made me do the drugs. And I hated myself, I hated myself so much because the drugs felt so good. The captain only forced me for the first few seconds, and then I felt myself change; I went crazy and inhaled the rest of it myself. They were laughing at me and I even started laughing at myself like an idiot. My feet kept sliding on the floor while I was in the chair, I went so crazy the people holding me down even got a bit afraid and then, then, it was over. I blacked out. I woke up and that's when I was, I was in the cell where they let me and the other working women and a few young boys sleep. We were sailing and my clothes had been changed. I had already started working by then and I don't even know how long the first gap was, it was like I temporarily became a different person..."

At that point Anna simply stopped. This time, she didn't sob out loud, but she'd already soaked Issinia's shoulder with tears and looked exhausted despite the fact that they were both sitting down. She clung to Issinia so tightly that the counselor could even feel how fast the poor woman's heart was beating, and resigned herself to simply patting her on the back for a few minutes while she calmed down. Eventually, her breathing became almost normal and her shoulders loosened up enough for Issinia to sit back and look her in the face again.

"I know this was very difficult, Anna, and you are so brave for taking this step. What you suffered was beyond words available in language to describe the unfairness of it all, and it was absolutely not your fault or something you could have stopped. And I know it hurts - I have no idea how bad it just feel, but I know it does - but it needs to be faced. One day, you are going to rejoin society again, and before then we need to accept what happened even though we absolutely reject the evil of it, because we have to move on. We walk that balance - we don't deny it, nor do we dwell on it. It isn't easy, but we will not rest until we can help you prevail. And you just finished one of the hardest steps, Anna...you admitted out loud how it all started."

Worried that she was talking too much again, Issinia stopped herself to give Anna a moment to let it all sink in. Although this was her first real patient, Issinia had read enough case studies to know that speaking about such traumatic episodes was often a necessary if difficult step toward acceptance and then recovery; that Anna had spoken so readily, even after they had gotten off on the wrong foot, felt like a reassuring sign.

"Thank you...thank you, Miss Hearthglen. It's been forty years...I never thought about what happened much, even when I was sober...I never told anybody. And I thought I was over it, but-" Anna pointed toward the tears streaming down her cheeks, and actually let out an honest, sincere little laugh. "I guess it still hurts."

"The pain doesn't go away when we just ignore it - not even after half a century," Issinia said softly while offering Anna a box of tissues from beneath the couch. "But listen...you've done so well, and I'm so proud of you. If you want to continue, that's-"

"Can we rest now?" Anna asked, laughing out loud in good humor as the tears began to subside.

"We can rest now. And we won't discuss any of this before your next session unless you want to; until then, we have plenty of workshops and classes to keep us busy." Finally relaxing herself, Issinia marveled at how tense she'd been as well; she was honestly surprised by how well the session had gone. "So do you want to go eat that really fatty, sugary ice cream I snuck into the dining room?"

"Oh goddess, I need that so much!" Anna chortled.

The two of them only spent a few more minutes as Anna recomposed herself. Once they left the safe room, the topic was laid to rest for the time being, and they were both able to return to their normal routines. Issinia beamed proudly as she led her patient to the dining room; and even though she'd remember all the details to write later, for the first time she didn't find her mind occupied by her notes.


	5. Chapter 5

Though Darnassus bad many restaurants - after all, it was the capitol of the entire faction - very few of them could be described as high class. Night elven cuisine had been developed on the move, born out of millennia of monotonous habits during the Long Vigil. Sleeping druids preferred raw fruit and vegetables, supplemented with eggs that forest quail, bound to nature just as they were, practically offered to them. The huntresses and archers weren't so different. Constantly mobile as they patrolled the forests of Kalimdor endlessly, the womenfolk of the Kaldorei tended to consume large amounts of venison and game meat in addition to raw tubers, nuts and berries. For those in actual settlements and huntress lodges, bread baked from ground acorn meal was the staple, prepared without any additives, seasonings or even jellies. At the most, berries might be wrapped inside the bread but even that was viewed as frivolous.

Compared to dwarven or goblin food, night elf cuisine was, quite simply, plain and boring.

That didn't mean that silver platter restaurants were non existent. The highborn, almost a separate class of the society that remained in separate neighborhoods, held on to many of the pre-Sundering traditions of the original, ancient, decadent culture built around the First Well of Eternity. More succulent dishes involved amounts of alcohol and sauces in the preparation were available, and as unpopular as the highborn were in the society, their restaurants were well appreciated by those who could afford to eat there.

Being a trainee priestess and a simple bureaucrat meant that Issinia and Narrus, her fiancé, could afford to eat there once every other month. And when they did, they made sure to savor every bite.

Seeing as how it was a weeknight, the highborn restaurant just inside the main stone walls of Darnassus wasn't absolutely packed. It was certainly still busy, of course, but they were quite happy when nobody bumped into them after they'd both been at work all night. Once they'd received their food, they ate in relative silence until Narrus found himself becoming full.

"Your dad wrote me a letter the other day," he said after finishing the rest of his salmon. "Or the other week I guess, because it arrived the other day."

Up to that point, Issinia had been admiring the way his long, turquoise eyebrows meshed with the glowing light of a moonstone floating against the wall just behind his head, causing the tips to appear silver and transparent. He played it off as if he didn't notice, but eventually she realized he'd been talking as she stared at him. "Huh...really? My dad? He...yes, right. What's the news?"

Smirking once he confirmed that she hadn't been paying attention at first, Narrus leaned forward and stole one of her oysters. "Oh, not much. He has a tendency to meander a bit but your sister had her husband check the gender of baby number two. It's another boy."

"Aww...well, I don't blame Thanil; it's always fun to know and start planning."

"You were about to ask why it couldn't be a girl this time," Narrus teased with a wink.

"Oh, was not! My family is modern to the umpth degree, we're happy no matter what."

"You know, during the Long Vigil, baby showers for girls were always bigger than for the boys."

"Here we go."

"What? I'm just saying, it's a joyous occasion no matter what," Narrus chortled as Issinia stole his last prawn. "They chose the name already, too."

Issinia smirked knowingly, old rivalries between her and Anathil - the priestess of the moon and the priestess of da voodoo - boiled up to the surface. "I bet they chose a Zandali name, didn't they?" she sighed while rolling her eyes.

Narrus had a tendency to purse his lips when he politely disagreed with her; he never stated such openly due to his politeness, and when coupled with the way his chinstrap beard would almost shift when he made that face, it drove her wild. "It's half your heritage, Issa," he replied, hiding his reaction when she started rubbing her foot in top of his beneath the table.

"So is Darnassian. I don't see why they couldn't choose one Zandali name and then one Darnassian name."

"On our own list of potential baby names, we only have Darnassian ones."

"That's theoretical; Thanil is actually doing it," she replied. She tried to take a sip of her wine, but he chose that exact moment to slide his other foot on top of hers, risking the outbreak of all out war beneath the tablecloth, and she almost choked on her wine.

"Do you need some help, there?" he asked innocently.

"I shall have my revenge," she warned him. They both let the couple conflict fall to the wayside as they ate a little bit more, knowing they'd need to both go and sleep shortly. "So what's the name?"

He smiled with his mouth closed, finishing a bite of her oyster first. "Do you really want to know?"

"Tell me."

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Narrus..."

"Alright, it's Hyptu."

"By the goddess, they couldn't get more Zandali if they named the kid Spearface Raptor'jin."

This time, it was Narrus who almost choked as he laughed with a mouthful of oyster. "That's your second nephew you're talking about!"

"May Elune guide his path in life. Right to the moonwell and away from the voodoo."

"I'll write to your father that you're absolutely delighted at the news and can't wait to attend little Hyptu's baby shower once it's time." The two of them ate a little bit more, almost finishing the rest of their food, before Narrus spoke once more. "How's work? Any progress with this rehab program?"

Considering the question seriously for a moment, Issinia took a sip from her wine glass uninterrupted by laughter. "There is, most definitely. But I tell you...the world is a sick place. I've only counseled a single person so far, and what I hear from just one is sometimes so shocking that I wonder if all these drug pushers in the world are actually members of the Twilight's Hammer trying to speed up the end by seeding society with recreational poison."

"That bad?"

"It really is. There's progress as well, but it's slow - rebuilding a shattered elven being from scratch isn't an easy process. I feel that progress in me, too - the other day when my sister in law got a paper cut, I was able to heal it in less than two minutes."

Narrus actually stopped chewing for a moment to look her in the eye and smile warmly. "I'm proud of you, dear. It's been what, a month and a half? You couldn't even curse that bruise from when you stubbed your toe on a treant."

Issinia's violet-blue cheeks flushed a slightly darker shade, both at the compliment and the reminder of her little incident. "Thank you...I really am surprised myself at the progress. That's why...oh! That's why the other news has me excited."

"What's that?"

"Well, remember the mission that the Sisterhood opened in Uldum? The one that urgently needs staff but must maintain high standards due to the dangers there?"

"Yes, we discussed it a few months back. Your combat skills would be perfect in such a location."

"I hope so, and the work would also help me improve my healing skills," she practically chirped, already feeling her level of excitement jump up. "Well, here's the thing: they actually received an invitation to expand their operations in a tol'vir city; the locals wish to know about Elune. Now, the mission plans on making final decisions on who will be accepted to go in only six weeks. They need to know soon, and once the mission receives its next wave of staff and supplies, they won't open for more people for a few more years; the Sisterhood likes to take these things slow and keep staff consistent."

At first, Narrus didn't say anything. Taking a long sip from his wine glass, he stared at a tank of live oysters on display near the front doorway of the restaurant. "That's usually how those processes work..."

Sensing his unease, Issinia grinned wide and pulled out her trump card. "If I'm accepted, it would be as a full fledged priestess; I'd be entitled to pulling rank for at least one, possible two transfers of position for people from the capitol that I deem necessary for my personal team. Don't worry, dear; if I'm going, you're going."

Narrus looked down at his glass and smiled again, but it seemed incomplete. There was a missing element that confused her; they'd discussed the issue numerous times before, and while her career would take precedence, she also wouldn't go anywhere without him. Yet he didn't appear entirely reassured. "Your patient's initial course of treatment is half a year, correct?" he asked rhetorically.

She leaned back in her chair, relieved that his concern was so minor. "Oh, don't you worry about that - see, I'm not technically held here for the duration since I'm still a volunteer. If I'm accepted at the mission in Uldum, I'll have a week or so to inform the training facility here before I leave."

"So what happens to this Anna person, in that case?"

"Well...the training program accepted seven of us, but there were more applicants. For sure, they could find a replacement, and the case file of the patient would be shifted to that replacement."

Before Narrus even spoke, Issinia felt her ears droop as she realized what he was about to tell her. Quiet and soft spoken as always, he had an almost sensitive thoughtfulness regarding possible disagreements with her that lessened the blow of differences in opinion. In this case, however, it still deflated the wind in her sails.

"How would the replacement of you after the trust you've built with Anna affect her development and recovery?"

The two of them both stared at the tablecloth for a few moments, uncomfortable by the reality brought up before them. Issinia had been so elated, and hadn't expected such a reaction from Narrus at all. That she knew he disliked upsetting her in any way told her that he must feel as awkward as she, but also that he wouldn't have made the comment unless he truly felt it pertinent. At no point had Issinia considered what would happen to Anna's emotional state; she'd volunteered for the program as a stepping stone in her early career, and viewed it through that lens; the thought that she might not step on to the next stone due to the interests of someone else gave her pause.

"It will affect her in a negative way. Elune bless the world, I can't deny that. But it won't be impossible for her to switch counselors. That isn't ideal, but it happens everywhere. And if we look at the cost benef...I mean, objectively speaking, if I don't go for this position now, it will probably be six years minimum before they open spots for missionaries again. I've already spent that much time in school, and then basic training before that. For how long will I wait?"

Frowning more at his dislike of the discussion than her specific words, Narrus thought for a moment and she could tell he was trying to be diplomatic about his words. "Issa...we're elves. Six years is nothing." It was the most direct way he'd ever spoken to her, and while she did find it refreshing, he also paused afterward as if he felt he'd gone a little too far. "As you're preparing for the next step, please consider the responsibility that comes with earning the trust of a wounded person in need. I love you, and I will always support you no matter what decision you make, but please think very hard."

They looked into each other's eyes. Like hers, his were silver - he was from the minority of men born during the Long Vigil who weren't druids, though her glow was much brother due to the moonstruck power she held inside of her. After more than a decade together, they still hadn't even argued once, but occasionally uncomfortable discussions did occur. Letting is pass as they agreed to always do, they both relaxed as the topic wore itself out and they. Oth resigned themselves to sleeping on it.

"I will...and I love you too," she replied as she slurped the rest of her wine.

It was a bit of a walk back to her dorms, and his apartment was in the opposite direction (they didn't believe in cohabitation before the wedding). But with all she just felt had been dropped onto her proverbial plate after she'd cleared her literal one, the wine was a welcome method to rest her mind and try to get some sleep with the internal conflict that had been ignited.


	6. Chapter 6

Giddy and excited, Anna tried the plainclothes on in front of the mirror in her dressing room. The last time she'd been allowed outside the clinic, she'd only visited a few clothing stores but had her measurements taken by one of the seamstresses that offered simple tailored dresses. None of it was particularly notable or flashy, but to a person who had been wearing medical gowns for all of her time spent sober, the custom made personal items were a big deal.

Issinia sat on a chair just beyond the doorway, careful to uphold the rule of not leaving a patient alone even so far into treatment. "Spring will only last a few more weeks. Why not be bold and wear the forest green one?" she suggested as Anna seemed to legitimately be in a quandary despite owning only two outfits. It was quite cute; Kaldorei women were not known for fussing over their appearance in comparison to other elves, mainly due to a more rustic lifestyle that often required them to march in the woods for weeks on end. But once she was given the choice, Anna seemed to have quite a bit of fun comparing the two dresses to each other over and over again.

Holding the green one in front of her, she inspected the garment again for the fifth time, and Issinia had to avoid pinching Anna's cheeks. As a priestess, she was judged a little more on her appearance than others but even she never spent more than five minutes deciding what to wear. "Are you sure?" Anna asked almost self consciously. There wasn't a hint of unease in her voice so much as she seemed to take the decision of what to finally wear other than the clinic's patient uniform very seriously.

"Absolutely. They both look great, but the green one would match the color of those spruces near the market district where we're going. Plus, you could wear the dark grey jacket over it."

Wordlessly, Anna left the purple dress aside and took her jacket from where she'd laid it atop the dresser, inspecting it with equal seriousness. Issinia had to stifle a friendly laugh as she watched Anna look at the clothing from different angles. It really was a heartwarming sight to see; for a good four decades and then some, Anna had worn whatever outfits (or rags, during simple transport from one brothel to another) her employers had foisted upon her. For a person who had lived in such conditions since before Issinia had even been born, to even be given two simple outfits to choose from must have felt as exhilarating as it was overwhelming. Issinia made no indication that Anna should hurry up, leaving her to spend as much time as she wanted marveling at the fact that she now owned two personal items that she'd picked out herself, and would choose when to wear them or not to wear them.

Peeling herself away from the mirror, Anna turned toward her counselor. Barely suppressed cheeriness shone behind her dimly glowing eyes; the simple act of choosing what to wear on her own and going out for a walk seemed to make her so happy. "Could I have a moment?" she asked giddily.

"Of course," Issinia chortled as she stood up to leave the room for a minute.

Though a similarly long stretch of time elapsed before Anna finished getting dressed, Issinia didn't feel the need to knock; although Anna certainly held a lot of pain inside that she couldn't yet discuss openly, she was one of the more stable in-patients at the rehab clinic. There was little fear of leaving her alone, but rules were rules.

Once she emerged from the dressing room, she looked surprisingly stable. Her navy blue hair was tied back in a rather skillfully woven bun and the jacket concealed the number tattoos on her wrist. Her demure yet eager expression filled Issinia with so much hope that she almost began to drift into the feeling that she was strolling with a peer rather than a patient.

Tinalith had given Issinia a firm private lesson about that previously - refer to them as clients instead of patients, refer to herself as a facilitator instead of a counselor - though Issinia still bore a bit of apprehension about removing too many professional barriers between herself and a person she viewed as an ill person in need of her curative therapy. The faded glow of Anna's eyes reminded Issinia of that barrier. Night elves tended to lose the glow in their eyes for two reasons: either advanced age, such as Cecilia's mother (though, interestingly enough, not her aunt who was older than her mother), or substance abuse that weakened their life force. Because elves in general didn't age much in terms of their facial features and skin health, Anna could very well pass for someone of advanced age in public, but Issinia always felt as if there was an urgent need for her to help cure the poor woman whenever they looked each other in the eyes.

Unconditional positive regard, she reminded herself internally. At no point was she supposed to view her patient in a negative or judgmental light.

Anna bounced on her toes involuntarily, pursing her lips to avoid laughing. "Are you sure you're ready to go?" Issinia chuckled.

In reaction to the joke, Anna's mouth curled into a grin, flashing two flattened teeth that had once been fangs but were, at some point during her captivity, filed down. "Not quite!"

The two of them signed out from the clinic and promptly stepped outside, entering the crisp night air that was abuzz with a few more people than usual for the seasons. Around the temple complex, it wasn't noticeable; people tended not to just walk through chatting about secular topics or for reasons other than worship or reflection. By the time they reached one of the relatively new neighborhoods that had popped up in the ever expanding boughs of Darnassus, however, the more international crowd began to appear.

Ever since the Sentinels had become an independent faction again, relations with the outside world had actually increased rather than the other way around. Dealing with outlanders on their own terms, the night elves were able to decide which parts of their ancient culture they were willing to let go as they struggled to keep pace with the rapidly modernizing world. On the one hand, it meant that they were able to use their growing population to confidently fill settlements on their traditional lands that had, for temporary periods, either been taken over by the Horde or inhabited by the faster reproducing races of the Alliance; on the other hand, it also meant that some people of those races, as well as the orc and goblin traders that had been appearing in Kaldorei settlements for a few decades, were less ostentatious in their behavior when surrounded by the tall, sharp featured children of the stars. And on that particular night, the contrast was clear.

Since so many of the locals were either at their jobs that time of night or camping outside the settled areas that time of year, the newer neighborhood featuring a bit of metal and glass work found itself occupied by numerous shoppers and nighttime revelers from other factions and nations. While there were enough night elves there for Issinia and Anna not to be noticed by most - excluding a full blooded jungle troll who glanced curiously at Issinia, who herself was half - the crowd was mostly foreign. Quite a few humans were out and about, in addition to scattered tauren who were more numerous and tended to fit in better than other members of the Horde. In fact, every mortal race seemed to be represented; the only people that never seemed to go further than Rut'theran City were demons and the undead. Every other group of people imaginable was represented, standing and strolling among the numerous shops, restaurants and cafés in the minor business district.

Issinia didn't notice most of the people around them, however. As much as she trusted Anna, she still felt just as anxious as the two other occasions when she'd taken her patient...er, client out for a stroll. Like many other activities during Anna's treatment, it was a calculated risk. For twenty years, the woman had barely set foot onto dry land; for another twenty, she'd been traded back and forth between various taverns and houses of ill repute on Draenor, rarely seeing the light of the moon during that time. For almost half a century, she'd been a base slave; a worker held in bondage by forced drug addiction. Issinia had reviewed enough incident reports to know that such pa...clients often couldn't deal with the normal freedoms most people took for granted in a healthy manner during the early stages of psychotherapeutic treatment.

She kept her arm locked in Anna's as she observed how awestruck the woman was by all the shining lanterns, colorful shop signs and laughing street side bistro customers (outlanders viewed the night time as 'late,' and thus behaved in ways they normally wouldn't otherwise). "You know, there's this quiet little place up the street here," Issinia mentioned while pointing toward a less busy, cozier looking side street a good hundred yards ahead of them. "It's this dwarf family that immigrated here from the Badlands. Their cuisine isn't the healthiest, but it just might be the tastiest."

Anna continued to look all around her, clearly impressed by the way that Kaldorei style tree buildings naturally grown out of the ground had been modified to feature glass windows. "No rush...but it sure sounds good," she replied while fixating on a gnome in a top hat drawing caracitures of people. "Actually, can we get in line for this guy?" she asked while indicating the gnome artist with her free hand.

The way Anna so naturally gravitated toward a line of people without apprehension or fear warmed Issinia's heart. Although the little man had set up his stand against a stone wall between two loud restaurants serving alcoholic beverages, she was physically present to act as a responsible sponsor, and the setting was well lit and in public. Issinia relented, and ceased trying to usher Anna away from all the commotion.

"That sounds like a good idea!" Issinia led her over toward the line of four people already waiting and stood at the back. "These are so funny, aren't they? Look at the pandaren fellow at the front, he's being drawn like a bunch of clouds in vaguely ursine form."

Sure enough, a pandaren man wearing a messenger's uniform sat on a pedestal at the front of the line as the gnome furiously sketched on the easel with a pencil in each hand. "How does he do it?" Anna asked rhetorically as they marveled at the sheer velocity of the little person's hands. "He looks like he isn't even slowing down to take the time to breathe!"

Sporting a handlebar mustache wider than his own head, the gnome stood up on his stool as he began adding details. A small crowd of onlookers gathered around on all sides, marveling at his skills. Not acknowledging any of them, he pulled back and stared almost angrily at his own drawing before slashing his pencils across it like swords to write his signature, garnering a round of cheers from the crowd as three more people jumped into line behind Issinia and Anna. The pandaren looked absolutely stunned as he accepted the picture of himself as a cloud.

"That's incredible!" the furry man beamed while offering an indiscriminate amount of silver.

"Welcome welcome!" the gnome replied in a shockingly high pitched voice, and even more onlookers and waiting customers gathered around.

Three more caracitures were drawn in rapid succession. First, a local couple sat down to be drawn as harpies; despite the general refinement over that warped race due to a recent invasion by them of the Stonetalon Mountains, both the couple and the gathered crowd found it hilarious, and Anna's eyes almost seemed to glow a little more as she laughed naturally with everyone else. The second person in line was a large orc drawn as a treant ballerina, and although he blushed slightly he still seemed legitimately happy at the surprise. The last person in line before Issinia and Anna was a human woman who sat pretty in an almost over the top pose only to be drawn in the same pose, on the same pedestal, but sinking into a pit of quicksand. At first she pouted, but the applause from the crowd as well as the words of encouragement from some of the onlookers eventually turned her disappointed pout into a giddy, almost forced pout as she suppressed her laughter.

The atmosphere was entirely comfortable and jovial, but by the time it was their turn Issinia had begun to tense up nervously. While the man appeared to have an incredible sense of humor and it was all in good fun, she was worried about the contrast in eye glow. Issinia's eyes glowed even more strongly than most pureblooded night elves - the result of a blessing she'd received at the temple during infancy which led to her offensive spell immunity that had proven so essential during her combat training. Contrasted to Anna's dim, faded eyes and it may as well have been night and day. If the gnome chose to poke fun at Anna's eyes, then Issinia feared it might prove a setback to her social development. Pulling her out of line, however, would likely embarrass and disappoint her, also leading toward social regression. Silently cursing herself for not having considered all of that before, Issinia sought a solution in the last few seconds before Anna sat down in the pedestal.

"Hey!" a pair of stylish goblin teenagers wearing sunglasses at night both cried as Issinia reached into the crowd and snatched their eyewear before borrowing a paper children's hat from a willing draenei onlooker.

"Just a few minutes!" Issinia promised as she wore the paper hat and out the sunglasses on herself and Anna.

Although the goblins were quite literally only half her height, their race often possessed oversized heads in comparison to their bodies, and it was a snug but possible fit as she felt the sunglasses just barely old on to the sides of her head without snapping. Their protests were drowned out by the appreciative laughter and a few whistles from the onlookers, and Anna blushed like the orc man had before as she seemed completely unaware of the strategery behind the move.

Before they'd even stopped moving, the gnome began his almost aggressive pencil strokes, reminding Issinia that she'd acted just in time. From their angle, they couldn't see what he was drawing, but her apprehension had all drained out once she leaned down with her elbow on Anna's shoulder in an overly dramatic one, much to the crowd's amusement. For her part, Anna seemed almost unable to contain herself, and she continuously laughed as the onlookers murmured in confusion and then cooed in admiration at whatever the gnome was drawing. The sound of lead against the thick sheets of paper on an oversized sketch pad ticked in unison as people made comments, and more people passing by seemed entertained enough to join the line of waiting customers.

"Voilà!" the gnome exclaimed in his high pitched voice as he spun the entire easel around quickly enough to make the papers lift up in the gust of air before settling back down again.

"Aww!" the large orc man, who had lingered to watch other drawings, cooed at the sight.

Issinia laughed so hard that she had to grab on to Anna to avoid falling over; Anna herself was in stitches. The gnome had drawn them as two infant versions of themselves wearing oversized sunglasses and wearing full diapers, with little squiggly lines drawn to signify the stinky diapers and all.

"We're so stinky and cute!" Anna chuckled in good humor, earning almost as many laughs as the picture.

"I know!" Issinia chuckled back as she righted her posture and helped Anna stand up.

One of the two goblin teenagers was already reaching up for their sunglasses. "Come on lady, you're going to stretch them out!"

"Thank you so much, kids," Issinia said, ignoring the indignant tone of the little green person. In contrast, the draenei waited patiently for her paper hat, but accepted it graciously all the same despite the fact that it was a cheap paper hat that some restaurant probably gave to everybody who walked in. "And you too!"

"You're velcome," the horned woman answered in thick, accented Common.

Turning back toward the gnome, Issinia pulled out her coinpurse. "Amazing work, kind sir. How much will that be?"

The little man smirked from atop his stool as he contemplated for a few seconds. "Make offer?" he asked in a tone of voice as if he were confused.

Issinia snorted in a form of light frustration that was more friendly than legitimately annoyed. "Oh come now, you must have a going rate, right? How much for two drawings?"

"Hmm...seventy eight silver!"

Rummaging through her coinpurse, Issinia paused once she thought twice about the strange number. "Oh...well, I have eighty silver here-"

"No change!" The gnome the waved his hand through the air like a karate chop, though how that was meant to illustrate his point wasn't clear.

"It's quite alright sir, I'd rather not go somewhere else to break a gold piece." She placed the hefty stack of coins in his palm and he began furrowing his brows rapidly like crashing waves, much to everyone's amusement. After Issinia took the picture, she turned around. "Well, that was pretty fun...Anna?"

Issinia's heart froze. Anna was gone.

More people moved forward in the line, and an off duty sentinel stepped in behind her and sat in a pose that was far too formal and insinuated imminent mockery at the hands of the mustacheod gnome. Many of the onlookers had wandered away while new ones stopped by to look, and the line continued to move as life moved on. Panic rising after only a few seconds, Issinia stepped away from the crowd with the picture still in hand until the draenei in a paper hat waved to get her attention.

"Your friend vent that vay," the hooved woman said while pointing down one of the smaller side streets in the busy (relatively speaking) new neighborhood.

Issinia nodded as she strode past the woman. "Thank you!" she said in a rush as she moved around all the shorter people in the area. Although she didn't want to make a scene, she felt legitimately annoyed at the way most people's heads in the predominantly foreign district were at the perfect height to be smacked by her elbows, and she had to walk strategically through the crowd as she scanned the area for someone nearly her height with navy blue hair.

A number of scenarios ran through Issinia's mind, but she dug deep to exercise techniques to control her breathing as she tried to be optimistic. Perhaps Anna had needed to spit and wanted to find a place where nobody would see her, or maybe she dropped something and it rolled away...

"Felfire!" Issinia muttered in Darnassian when she heard the live music from around the corner.

Down a narrow side street barely wide enough for three night elves to walk shoulder to shoulder, Issinia could see the open doors of a bar that featured a few dwarves who obviously weren't professional singers chanting a familiar drinking tune. The place was abuzz with a relatively tame crowd, but there was a lot of noise from the instruments and a lot of alcohol was being passed around as servers hurried left and right. So crowded was the place that some of the patrons were mingling outside in the street, drinking while sitting on the curb or just standing.

Concerned about not making a scene, Issinia pushed her way down the street carefully, praying in vain that she wouldn't see a certain blue bun inside the bar until she did.

Mesmerized as if under the charm spell of a succubus, Anna stared wide eyed at the two behind the bar. A barmaid that looked like she was straight out of Ironforge was pouring two glasses of lager at the same time, and the clinks of more glasses almost drowned out the bad music. Never before had Issinia seen somebody so absolutely entranced; it was as if Anna had been petrified by a basilisk's stare and was unable to budge.

Working her way through the crowd, Issinia silently thanked the goddess for the fact that Anna hadn't touched a glass or spoken to anybody else yet, but scolded herself as well for having taken her eyes off the woman for even one second. "Anna, this isn't a place we should be," she whispered in Darnassian. At first Anna didn't appear to hear her, and the woman's lips began to move as if she were talking to herself. Disturbed by the dumbstruck expression on the face of the recovering addict from multiple substances, Issinia moved close enough to actually out her arm around the woman's shoulder. "Anna, why don't we go for a walk-"

Issinia cut her sentence short when Anna snapped her head so fast that a few people next to them noticed. The woman wore an expression like a criminal caught in the act of robbing a house, a mixture of fear and confusion and the desire to flee. Anna blinked a few times before the muscles of her face loosened, and only then did Issinia realize how truly disturbed the woman had looked. Her mouth had salivated so much that a strand of it was hanging between her upper and lower jaw, and her pulse was visibly racing in a vein along her temple. Displaying a bit of that fear in reaction to Issinia herself, Anna scrunched her nose up as if she'd been punched, and shook her head at nothing as she wrung her wrists nervously.

"It..." she mumbled in Darnassian, but with a heavy slur as if a muscle in her neck had been pulled. "It."

Sensing that Anna was in the verge of experiencing some sort of episode, Issinia shoved past a few people blocking their path, ignoring the angry curses as she pulled Anna out into the street and forced the woman to shuffle away. A few people stared oddly before returning to their business, but the possible embarrassment Anna might have experienced when being looked at paled in comparison to the possibility of her experiencing some sort of panic attack in front of dozens of strangers. Once they'd walked a good distance away from the restaurants and bars and toward a sleepy end of the street featuring only cheap apartments and shops that had closed for the night, Issinia pulled her into an alleyway where nobody could see them, nor (hopefully) hear them.

Pulling Anna into a tight hug, she began doing damage control preemptively. "Youre alright, Anna; everything is alright," she whispered while playing the balancing act of holding the woman gently enough to appear soothing but tightly enough such that she wouldn't be able to squirm away and run.

Anna twitched for a few seconds, but eventually grabbed Issinia back. It wasn't a hug so much as it was another sort of desperate cling as if she were running away from a living nightmare. "Sor...sorry..." she sniffled quietly, soaking the shoulder of Issinia's dress as she had done a few times before. "Oh...I heard the music...I heard feet dancing..."

"It's okay, we're away from it now-"

"Issa...I need help..."

"We're going to help you, Anna; you don't ever have to worry about that."

When Anna just clung to her for the longest while, Issinia began to lead her out of the alley, taking a long walk away from the whole neighborhood and through the more tranquil parts of the city. It would take them much longer to return to the temple complex and thus the clinic that was Anna's only home, but it was for the best. The trip was essentially canceled; it would likely be the last she saw of the world outside the training clinic's orchard for a few more weeks, plus it would give her the necessary time to compose herself before they had to go back, which would surely mean interacting with people other than Issinia who would ask questions.

On a long stone bridge near the center of the city, with only a few sentinels and local workers a good distance away, Anna calmed down enough to speak again.

"Miss Hearthglen..."

"Issinia is fine, Anna," she said, forcing herself to breach another one of her rules as she desperately sought to comfort the poor woman after feeling like she'd let Anna down. "We don't have to be formal all the time if you don't want to."

Like a child, Anna clung to her arm even more tightly, belying her more than a millennia of life on Azeroth. "Issinia...the bunk next to mine is empty," Anna said shyly, almost embarrassed to ask. "I'm so afraid...I just went crazy, the way I did the day it all started." She held her breath for a moment, waiting for another wave of anxiety to pass as the two of them walked at a snail's pace. "I thought I was ready, I swear to Elune I didn't want to do that..."

Feeling a sense of pressure mount upon her, Issinia drew a deep breath. "I'll sleep at the ward tonight, Anna. Don't worry. I'm not going to leave you alone," she said, doing her best to conceal the reluctance that she felt so guilty over.

Unconditional positive regard, she reminded herself. All the way back to the clinic, she had to fight to suppress the selfish voice in the back of her mind taunting her about the career she'd wanted to pursue for herself, and the responsibility of caring for another living person in need.


	7. Chapter 7

Far, far off in the distance, tornadoes swirled across the landscape, slowly roving over the dunes and kicking up dust nearly a mile into the sky. As far up as the eye could see, the clear black of the night provided a backdrop for both the dust and the stars. The starlight became distorted as the tornadoes moved, twinkling and phasing in and out as it was temporarily obscured. Neither fog nor clouds nor rain quite distorted the light in that fashion, nor any other natural phenomena that Issinia had ever seen before.

Her light brown desert sabre, a breed she'd never heard of before, bounded across the spine of the sand dunes as she made her rounds. It's paws were flatter than those of the northern third of the continent, having developed for running across loose footing rather than swiping at enemies and sprinting across solid ground. While the mount didn't move quite as fast, its endurance was a thing to be envied; it was no wonder that the local sentinels had emphasized the need of long term travel stamina so much. For hours, the brown sabres of her and her companions ran without stopping, all of them navigating their way to the remote outpost via the stars. Constellations her mother had explained to her during her childhood guided their path, as they had the path of her mother and her companions for so many millennia before.

Atop one of the highest dunes in the area, they all came to a halt when she raised her fist. Miles and miles of the deserts of Uldum stretched out before them, their sands shifting like waves to hamper progress. The only way to guide their path was by those stars, all based on the knowledge of where those constellations should appear in the sky at what time of year.

Wind rustled Issinia's indigo hair, causing the plait to clack against itself. Gusts of wind ended up pushing the sand in an eastwardly direction, sparing them the annoyance of sand in the face. Her two eyes shone like searchlights in the night, casting their powerful silver glow ahead of them as if pointing the way.

Reaching a decision based on a mental calculation most people would have required a gnomish calculator to perform, she turned back to face the four others behind her. "This way!" she commanded just as she leaned ever so slightly to signal to her sabre that it was time to move.

Bounding, galloping and kicking up a trail of sand behind the rough V shape that they formed, they tore across the desert landscape. The stars shone on the dark sand in just the right way to refract the light against the grains, and all around them laid a black sky and a violet-blue desert similar to the color of her skin. Those silver stars pointed the way as they had for so long, painting the universe around them like a map of the ages-

"Good goddess!" Issinia cried as her really awesome dream was interrupted by the blanket being pulled away from her head. Though the room was always dimly lit - their ultravision let them see in the dark, after all - it was real starlight that invaded her eyes, rather than the fake starlight in her dream.

Thandra was already dressed, and as usual spoke softly in an almost bemused tone at her sister in law's tardiness; Issinia was at least fortunate that the woman wouldn't make loud noises or shake her violently when she overslept like how her older brother and both her sisters did. "You know, I heard that it's unhealthy to sleep with-"

"-with the blanket held over my face. Yes, I've heard it a hundred times," Issinia groaned as she rubbed her eyes and stretched without yawning. "It was a really good one this time. You might have been there, but I didn't look back long enough to check."

Ever the polite family member (more so than Issinia's younger sister), Thandra picked another priestess gown from Issinia's side of the closet at random and laid it out at her feet for her. "Let me guess, you were leading a group of sentinels across a wide open landscape somewhere?" Thandra chortled as she shoved a small pile of stationary items into her eight slot bag.

"Have my dreams become that predictable?" Issinia asked as she sat up in the bed. Her hair was completely disheveled and the collar of her pajamas had shifted up against her wind pipe, which was really annoying her.

"They usually do when something is bothering you. And your defiant pajamas usually aren't that high on your list." Though Thandra could obviusly read her well, she spoke nonchalantly, and would never press such issues unless the door was opened. A hint of jealousy stung Issinia as she realized that her sister in law was counseling her. And probably without even realizing it, too. Her talent was enviable.

Facepalming at herself, Issinia hunched over, in no rush to return to the rehab clinic where they performed their internships. "Thandra...sometimes I feel like I'm not cut out for this line of work," she sighed into her hand. "I excelled in the combat role of a priestess so well; Tinalith even compared my fighting style to the late High Priestess Whisperwind, goddess light her path. I don't see why I can't just cultivate that."

Thandra's eyes lit up the way they did when the woman saw that door opened. She was the last person on Azeroth to ever speak in a critical manner, but in this case she was a little more direct than usual. "If you want to be a missionary, then you'll have to meet the standards of the various missions that the Sisterhood sets up around the world. From those standards is the ability to function on both fronts - both on the front line and in the infirmary."

Issinia rubbed her eyes and began to slide off of her bed. "I know," she sighed.

"So you also know that healing skills aren't always advanced by simple trial and error; in the beginning, it's a matter of the heart. The opportunity we have is the envy of every aspirant healer: most people with hands on experience in psychotherapy and orphanages find their ability to control healing spells advanced."

Before she could move to take her clothes and go to the bathroom, Issinia was struck by a sudden need to be heard. So far, she'd bottled up the guilt she'd been bearing for the past week or so; Tinalith was her supervisor and thus confessing to her bore a risk that Issinia calculated as too high, and Narrus knew little of the topics of either rehabilitation or magic. But in Thandra, she found somebody who knew both her and her situation well, and who was always very discreet.

"Thandra...I feel...troubled, I guess."

Finally giving up her nonchalant act, Thandra closed the door of their dorm. "I thought as much," she said as she leaned against the single desk in their cramped room. She looked ready to talk, but said nothing more herself, and Issinia assumed that she was preparing to listen first.

"A big part of our time in school was devoted to mental healing; that's our specialty. We both chose it, and I have no regrets. But now, for the situation I'm in...I mean, I'm trying to just learn the basics of healing to get my foot in the door at Uldum. Because whatever training they can provide us here will be beneficial, but hands on experience on the front lines in such a tough location will always be better."

"Comparatively speaking, yes."

"But I'm on the cusp of being accepted at a very tough time, because of our obligations here. And...well, it's so important for a facilitator to see through the client's eyes. That's why Tinalith asked me to stop viewing myself as a counselor and Anna as a patient, why she asked us not to take the pathological view that our clients are 'sick' people instead of people who need help to become their ideal selves...and it's just becoming hard."

Thandra listened intently and trained her vision on the wall opposite her. Although she likely didn't possess the ability to be judgmental, the way she remained so blank in her expression made Issinia feel like Thandra could see right through her. "Do you mean that you find it hard to identify with Anna?" Thandra asked thoughtfully.

The ease with which Thandra asked provided a sharp contrast to the difficulty with which Issinia confessed. She hadn't inherited the guilt complex of her parents the way some of her siblings had, and thus the feeling was a bit foreign to her. Perhaps that was why it stung so much; she wasn't used to feeling as if the way she felt or thought was wrong, or something she should be ashamed of.

"It's awful...I feel like it's the most horrible thing I could say. It's so wrong, and I know that it's unfair to the client, but the sense isn't fleeting. It keeps staying with me, and I feel like it's holding me back. Whenever I feel happy for Anna for her progress or breakthroughs, there's always this voice in the back of my head telling me she's progressed. She doesn't need me, and I'm going to miss out on my own opportunities for her. And the whole point of counseling...psychotherapy, facilitation, whatever, is that our job is to help the client. So then I ask myself, can I do this job at all?" Confused, Issinia sighed through her nose. Saying out loud how she really felt hadn't soothed her the way it seemed to do for Anna during their safe room sessions. "I find that I can reduce my resentment when I'm with Anna, seeing her develop and achieve, but then when I'm back here, that resentment creeps back in."

She paused, hoping that Thandra would speak up with some sort of insight that would allay her concerns. Her realism, however, reminded her to expect miracles only from the goddess.

"I wish I had some magic answer, Issa. But you're not a client, and I'm not your facilitator. And what you're feeling - I understand the reasoning, even if I don't agree with it. The best thing I can tell you is that your career is going to be held back regardless of any other people if you can't improve your healing skills." Thandra pursed her lips sheepishly for a moment before continuing. "I'm sorry, that must sound so rude."

"No, it's the truth. Tinalith broke any sort of pride I might have held a long time ago."

"Right...well anyway, your healing is what you need to improve; not your offense or defense. The root of healing is all about the person in need; your job becomes caring for their wellbeing. There is no greater form of caring for someone else's wellness than sacrificing in order to help another. If assisting Anna on her road to normalcy and to becoming a productive member of society requires you to give up a little, then I can't think of a better example of that sort of sacrifice necessary for an aspiring healer."

An owl from just outside their window hooted, reminding them both that they needed to leave for work. "We have to go," Issinia sighed as she took up her clothes and a towel from the dresser. "I know you're right, Thandra. I just don't know what to do. Telling myself that my thoughts are selfish doesn't make them go away."

Thandra shrugged as she moved aside for Issinia to enter the bathroom. "Hey," she said while placing her hand on Issinia's shoulder. It was a bit awkward, since they were both facilitators at the same rehab clinic and sisters in law; trying to comfort each other felt like a weird role reversal when compared to their normal relations. "These things take time, alright?"

"Yeah." Issinia took her time getting washed up and dressed. Usually they arrived at work earlier than most of their colleagues, but after the self aggrandizing dream she'd had, the crushing feeling that she was doing her client a disservice simply because of her own thoughts and feelings slowed her movement.

At least the ride across the stone bridge was a relatively pleasant one. A few locals had begun to return to their normal living quarters in the city, but the season wasn't over yet and the usual busyness of Darnassus had not yet begun.

By the time they arrived at the trainee clinic, Issinia had managed to put on her smile again, doing her best to put both the dream and the conversation behind her. When they weren't involved in private sessions in the safe room or specific one on one activities, the staff were tending to the facility itself, sharing administrative duties and even mingling with the clients of each other in order to foster as different an environment from a medical ward as possible. On that particular morning, Issinia was cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast Thandra's sponsored client - a former sentinel who had stolen from her lodge commander's treasure chest to fund her habit, and had then been further alienated because her commander was also her mother. Technically the information was confidential, but the woman had been progressing so well that she found herself able to open up to other staff members about it on her own initiative without downplaying the seriousness of her condition. That she was such a shining example of success caused Issinia to further question her own ability and methods.

At the other end of the dining hall, most of the other clients checked in to the clinic had shifted the chairs around into a rough circle along with a few of the staff members. Jupiter, one of the two male priests, appeared to be regaling some story from many centuries ago when he'd worked at a barrow den guard. Although he was still younger than Tinalith, he was older than everyone else and had quite a few such stories to tell. A number of the other clients were laughing as he acted out a rather awkward scene between two moonkin in a rather animated fashion, and a few of them were even making comments and asking questions.

Toward the back of the circle sat Anna. Though she laughed along with everybody else, she never spoke. When alone with Issinia she was quite chatty, but when surrounded by other people she seemed to close up a bit. Her movements were less pronounced, her expressions were less vivid and her voice was quieter. She'd obviously improved beyond her initial condition, but there was something holding her back; Issinia knew it was there, but she wasn't quite sure what it was.

She looked over to the ex sentinel washing the last of the dishes. "Do you mind if I dip out?" Issinia asked politely. "I'll cover your duties next time."

The woman waved her hand. "No, don't worry about it. There are just like five left, it's no biggie."

"Thanks so much. I'll at least sneak you extra dessert later."

"Now you're speaking my language!"

Issinia chuckled and took her leave, walking across the hall to greet Anna just as everyone else had dispersed - Jupiter's tale of pillows made or moonkin feathers had ended. Anna smiled warmly when she saw Issinia, but restrained herself noticeably in her greeting. "Good morning, Miss - Issinia."

Issinia stepped aside for some more people who were scurrying off to various activities before answering. "Issa is fine - two syllables just like your name." She looked Anna up and down, trying to see how the woman would react to a little nudging. "Anna, some of the others plan on competing to see who can harvest the most apples in the orchard later on tonight. You heard about it, right?"

Anna's lips pulled into a reluctant grin as if she were trying to suppress her reaction. "Yes. Well, yes, I heard about it yesterday but I didn't want to bother you for more time if you're busy."

Although Anna continued to grin, Issinia immediately found herself taken aback as she started to over analyze the comment. Such ways of thinking were not in her nature at all, but she suddenly found herself wondering about the implications of the statement. "Bother...? Oh, Anna, I'd love to do it if you want to do it," Issinia pretend laughed, trying to play off her shock. "It will be fun!"

"I'm so glad to hear that!" Anna chirped as if she was honestly surprised. "I have to clean up in the bunk room now, but after that I'll be free to meet up. I was thinking of a really good strategy to cut our harvest time in half in the event that you would be okay with participating."

"I'll meet you at your bunk by the time you're finished then. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Issinia watched Anna leave after they bid each other farewell, forcing herself to hold her smile while in front of others. She was the counselor, the facilitator; she wasn't supposed to be the one who needed to be consoled or advised.

Her fears, however, had been confirmed. Somehow, some way, the resentment she'd been holding inside must have infected poor Anna. It seemed like the only logical explanation for the way she'd reacted to the news of the apple harvest. As Issinia went to the staff room to sit down and clear her head, she berated herself mentally for that resentment, feeling guilty in a way she wasn't used to. For the entire half hour after that, she just paced around and prayed that she wasn't doing poor Anna more harm than good.


	8. Chapter 8

Purple drapes adorned the room as they always had. The couches had been tidied as they always were, and the safe room at the trainee clinic appeared unused as it always did. Nothing in particular seemed like it had changed; even the scheduled therapy session was at the normal time of night. All was as usual; nothing was out of place.

The door slowly swung open, and two familiar faces walked inside, one topped with indigo hair and the other with navy blue. They were chatting lightly as usual when they entered, easily falling into and back out of the sense of privacy that the room gave them. All would have been normal, had it not been for the fact that the client was opening the door that time.

"Thank you very much," Issinia laughed in an overly dramatic voice.

Anna grinned and looked down almost bashfully. For a second she seemed conflicted as to whether she should mimic the voice back, but settled on her normal voice. "Don't mention it!"

The two of them sat down in their usual spots facing one another, though this time Anna seemed both loosened up as well as a tad bit eager. Her improved demeanor wasn't that surprising; she'd been asking about their next private session for a few days, subtly hinting that she had a desire to talk. Considering some of the setbacks they'd experienced previously, it was a remarkable development, and one that Issinia made sure to note.

"Alright, Anna. As you know, part of your development includes acceptance of the difficulties in your past; we don't dwell on them, nor do we deny them, but rather we learn how they shaped us as people so that we can continue with life as usual. Of course, the painful parts don't need to be shared with everybody that knows you - that's part of why these session are private."

"Sure. I have no desire to blurt out every bad thing that happened to me like a few of the others, either."

Issinia crooked her head back in bemusement. Of all the things she'd prepared for, responding to a client who poked fun at the situation of her peers wasn't one of them. While she couldn't openly concur, Issinia did let it slide and just try to push past. "Right. Telling the details of what you've been through isn't a part of acceptance, which is why we have the safe room. Talking about these experiences out loud can both help us to put them in perspective in relation to the wider story of our lives, and also lead to reflection on how they help or hinder us on the path to becoming our ideal selves. Facilitating that journey of yours is the main goal of my job; filling in the timeline we started almost two months ago helps me to better understand that journey of yours, which ultimately helps me to help you." Issinia paused, giving her client sufficient time to take in everything she'd said. "Are you sure that you're ready for this?"

"Absolutely," Anna replied without a hint of hesitation. "I feel like it's time. It shouldn't be a big deal; you're my counsel...erm, facilitator. I feel like if you had that background information, that knowledge of how exactly it all happened, and you just stored that away in your mind, you'd have more knowledge of...the situation. I don't know what you'd do with that knowledge, but I'm not a therapist." Anna smiled at her own joke and then at the way Issinia smiled back. "But, uh, yeah. I'm ready."

"Okay then, let's go. Now, for people who have been through a lot, there's sometimes the question as to how they can begin. Would you like me to recall the timeline we've written until now?"

Anna appeared slightly confused. "You memorized it?" she asked in surprise.

"Of course; that's a significant part of who you are and how your life has progressed. It's also a good place to start."

"Oh...alright, then. I honestly don't remember which parts I told you and which parts I didn't, so that could be a good beginning."

Straightening up her back, Issinia ran through the points in her head, recalling the exact what she'd wanted to phrase the opening. "We don't have that much, currently; just the basics. You finished your basic training near your ancestral grove in Ashenvale, and you joined the cartel in Old Auberdine. From there you sailed as a normal crew member until Bogpaddle, where the truth came out and you were kidnapped. From that point, you seem to have had an even split: just over twenty years on various cruise ships owned by the cartel, and just over twenty years in Outland, juggled between several nightclubs and taverns over the years. Two sentinels passing through a tavern on the highway discovered you, and...you didn't mention this part, but I'm sure that by know you know it's in your report. The two sentinels rescued you, cracked a few skulls while demanding answers from the staff and weren't able to gain anything useful before they arranged an escort for you to come to us here."

"And I don't remember that part very well, either," Anna added. "I was high when they found me so I just remember bits and pieces. But everything else you said is accurate in a general sense."

"Good, that's good to know. If you don't mind, Anna, I'd like to ask a series of questions that you're free to answer or to say 'pass' to. Would that be alright?"

"That's why we're here!" Anna replied with gusto. In a few moments she might not be as eager, Issinia thought, but at least she seemed motivated to start.

"Okay. So far, you've responded well both to the diet we have you on as well as the several healing sessions and the herbal treatments. It's simply a remarkable recovery considering what you've implied your...captivity, let's say, was like. I'd like to ask, Anna, how often were you under the influence of drugs during your troubles?"

Anna pursed her lips as she considered the question for a moment. "It wasn't always the same across the past...half century, I guess. I went through stages."

"What were those stages like?"

"Well...the first one was the initial stage, where they wanted to...you know, break my will," Anna said in an even voice. She didn't appear to be forcing her calm tone, and Issinia felt a swell of pride for how well the woman was doing. "So after my first day I was drugged out for over a week, and the stuff was used like a collar for whenever they wanted to make a point. So I would say a good month or so was a haze, and they were just trying to make me act like the others. I'd say that by the end of the first year, they had toned it down to wear I was only using once a week, mainly at all the parties we held on the boat, and occasionally if a customer brought some in."

"So these...customers were also involved?"

"Involved in the sense that, I believe, most of them vaguely knew something was a bit off about the cruise. But none of us, the working women and a few boys, were allowed to say anything. We were mostly too afraid to try; at one point a lady from Durotar, this orc lady, was sent with a customer who was one of her people, and she tried to ask for help. The guy ratted on her and by the next morning, her cell was empty. I'm sure they murdered her, but nobody ever found out. So once most of us were robbed of hope, the drug usage actually decreased a bit."

"And it went on like that for...?"

Sighing deeply, Anna looked dejected but not disinterested. She obviously wanted to continue, but the difficulty of the subject weighed on her shoulders as heavily as it would on anybody else. "The whole twenty years. The captain, that human, she eventually died of an overdose in her quarters. She was replaced by someone else, enforcers were replaced by other enforcers, and I was even switched to different ships. Very rarely I would see other working women on occasional cruises whom I recognized, but they would just be transferred again, or me, by the end. Plus we were always being watched so we couldn't talk to each other anyway. Our lives and our interaction came from the customers and we just...accepted it. That was life. We tried to find the ones among all the customers who paid to go on the cruise who were polite, especially the lonely ones so we could just stay in their rooms and cling to them for a while, and enjoy what few niceties we could find."

"So for a good two decades, you were using controlled substances once or twice a week, you would say?"

"Yes, that's accurate. It wasn't that much, to be honest; I could have done more, but I was afraid and didn't want to use more than they forced me to in order to keep me dependent on them. But it was sustained."

"And what was it like in Outland?"

For the first time during the session, Anna paused. She didn't recoil or cringe, but she did pause. "Worse. My condition in general was worse," she replied quietly. Despite her forward leaning posture that insinuated that she wished to continue, an apprehension crept in that Issinia didn't want to let fester.

"Did you begin using drugs more often?" Issinia asked softly, leaning forward as well so as to create an atmosphere of privacy to their words. They were alone, but the gesture had seemed to succeed in the past.

"For a few periods, yes. In the beginning, I had to use more to cope with how I'd basically been dumped on the first club like a piece of merchandise. They made the stuff available to us and I took advantage of that to just drown all my problems away. Eventually I experienced an...episode, just a few years in. That was the first time I was traded."

"You mentioned once that you were sent to different work locations in Outland. When you say you were traded, do you refer to the times when you were switched from one tavern or such place to another?"

"Yes...yes. They weren't all owned by the same people, unlike the cruise ships, but they had business relations. And when I had that episode, they worried about their..." Anna took a deep breath; this time instead of simple sadness, there was a measure of anger in her tone, which Issinia actually found to be a healthy expression as long as she could remain balanced. "...merchandise. They sent me to a place that only served drinks. I still had to sleep with customers, but I spent most of my time in the brewery where I was constantly working alongside other people. They let me have a bit of what I was using, but it was controlled. All the beer I was allowed to drink sort of helped me switch one habit for another. So it slowed down for a long period, until toward the end when I really became desperate."

"So toward the end of your troubles, you'd describe yourself as more desperate then you'd been previously?"

"Most definitely. That's when all the years really began to weigh on me. By that time, I found it hard to pretend anymore, even when I landed one of those customers who wanted to talk in addition to the other stuff - widowers, single dads, war veterans. Those were always the least repulsive because despite what we were doing, at least they didn't hit us or make us do weird things like the others. It was like...my heart was dying even if my body somehow managed to persevere against all the stuff I was getting high on. My smile was fake and the customers knew it, and so I found myself left alone sweeping floors..." For the first time that session, Anna finally shut her eyes and breathed deeply. It was inspiring to see despite the pain of it all; she was obviously digging up a lot of old pains that she hadn't even had time to properly bury - indeed, she'd only been rescued from Outland less three months before - and yet she pushed forward. "It's like I wasn't even good enough to be a 'working lady' anymore. They just relegated me to cleaning and preparing drinks in the back room, and I was just like: look at me. I've sunk so low that I'm actually disappointed at not being a better prostitute. That was my life - a failure at a job I hadn't wanted from the beginning. And so I started the habit again, because by that point I was only a social user for whenever the parties we hosted required us to sit pretty and get high."

Anna sniffled, but there was an edge to it that wasn't soft. The fragility the woman had displayed in the beginning was gone, replaced by a bit of anger that seemed to be partially directed at herself. Issinia held her hand again, remembering that it had seemed to help her revisit old wounds the previous session. Anna gripped Issinia's hand back, her grip not as limp as before.

"And that was the last stage of your troubles?" Issinia asked quietly.

Nodding with her eyes closed at first, Anna sniffled some more but otherwise appeared stable. "That would have been the last stage of my life if those two sentinels hadn't found me," she said in a wavering but determined voice. "I was ready to die. Accepting it in such a situation was far easier than it would have been had I lived a normal life. I know the amount of time was minuscule to me - I'm just over a single millennia old. Half a century should have felt like a short period I could move past once I escaped, but things are different since the Third War. I grew up immortal, expecting to live forever, and then we became mortal again. Every year felt longer, every experience felt like it meant more, and there I was languishing in these seedy clubs and bars where I was shared like the kegs, taps and cleaning staff. My life was to spend time with a different person each night, form no lasting friendships with colleagues or anybody else and pass out at the end, waking up to do the same thing. And it just...it got to me by that point. I didn't even care anymore."

Sensing the tipping point had arrived, Issinia sat next to Anna again, giving her that closeness that the woman seemed to desire. Anna leaned in, but didn't actually rest her head on Issinia's shoulder this time, remaining in a normal sitting position. Her hand trembled but less so than usual. The entire shift was seamless yet heartening as well.

"Thank you for telling me, Anna," Issinia told her after a few moments of silence. While Anna's breathing was still a bit ragged, her anger and stiffness as well as the sadness had subsided. "Knowing a few more details does help me to understand you better, which will help me to assist you better. I am truly amazed at how easily you can speak about this now. You've been through so much, and no matter what you might have felt about your choices or your position in life, you should know that you are strong. You're strong, and you're driven, otherwise you wouldn't have survived for so long."

"Thank you," Anna chuckled lightly. There were tears dripping down her cheeks again, but she smiled in reaction to the compliment, and her demeanor was so balanced and even that she seemed to have already begun accepting what had happened and moving on by herself - she just needed a little push.

"And I truly do believe that you have the potential to give so much to the world. Not just because of the difficulties you've survived and are starting to move on from, but also because of that strength innate in you - you are going to do good things one day. I am sure of that."

Slowly but without pretense, Anna turned her head to get a better look at Issinia. The client's eyes were shining with hope, uplifted by the compliment and the recognition of the change in her. "I...seriously?" she asked, looking genuinely moved.

"I said it because I mean it. You're intelligent and thoughtful, and such people who have experienced to much pain are often able to help others. The specific way doesn't need to be discovered quite yet, but I am sure that you'll find a way to pass your message of perseverance in the face of despair on to the world."

Smiling a bit more widely, Anna looked down bashfully again. "So I could be like the next Ralo'shan?" she asked rhetorically.

"Goddess light her path, yes. Who knows? You might be able to write about your experiences too, one day. It's all far off from now, but that's the feeling I get."

Hope shone in those faded amber eyes again. "Will you stay with me while I find my own productive little place in the world?" Anna asked sincerely. As serious as the question was, she almost appeared childlike while asking it, and Issinia felt another pang of guilt as she asked herself how she ever could have resented someone so innocent.

No thought felt required for Issinia to answer. "Yes, of course. I'm not going to just leave you, Anna. I know a lot of things have gone wrong in your life, but here, in this ward, you won't have to worry about that." Anna just pursed her lips and smiled, relaxing once she seemed like she'd had enough discussion about her troubles. "So now that we've more or less filled in most of the timeline's main points. "Do you want to go for another walk through the restaurant district? You did great when we register the same street as a test last time."

"I'm glad you offered. Because I wanted to talk but I think I've just about had enough for one night," Anna chuckled. "Yes, I'd love to go outside the clinic again, if you don't mind. I need some fresh air."

Having memorized everything Anna had said, Issinia didn't even find the need to take a break to jot down notes first. Taking a few minutes for Anna to wipe her tears away, the two of them went back to her bunk so she could wear her outside clothes. After more than two months of trying, Issinia had finally managed to at least construct a rough life story for the woman she was sponsoring. And for the first time, she felt like she just might be able to properly help the woman recover to a state of normalcy again.


	9. Chapter 9

Wind whipped in Issinia's hair for real this time as she and Narrus rode neck and neck off the paved path. Traditionally the night elves had never paved roads, simply running through the wilderness on their sabres as the engaged couple was doing that evening. One of the few lasting changes of their brief time as part of another faction, however, was the naturally raising of moon blessed stones via communion with nature. It more easily facilitated the movement of glaive throwers and the carts of the outlanders, but also added an aesthetic that signified their partial shift out of the nearly feral lifestyle they lived during the Long Vigil. The unpaved, grassy forest floor stil bore its traditional allure, however, which the two of them greatly enjoyed as they raced.

Issinia, of course, had been born over a decade after the Vigil had already ended, and had no direct experience. Narrus, being one thousand years old himself, remembered it well and was no stranger to riding through the forest. Although he worked a civilian job now, he'd ridden for many centuries more than Issinia and as fast as a learner she was, she still had difficulty keeping up with him.

"I'll win this time!" she shouted in defiance as they raced to nowhere in particular. Leaning forward, she tried to urge her sabre to speed up, but Narrus was always a step ahead of her; the mounts of the Kaldorei were intelligent, and responded to very subtle movements and weight shifts of their riders.

Suppressing a smile as he refused to respond, Narrus kept his sabre just a hair's length ahead of hers, refusing to go easy on her. "I can't hear you back there," he taunted, speaking in his own polite way even when giving in to her bravado.

A few other locals passed them more slowly, crossing the path behind the couple while seeking a place to set up a tent. It was the tail end of the camping season, and an even larger number of local night elves were venturing out of Darnassus to sleep wherever they could find unoccupied forest space out in nature. It added to the sense of safety since there were so many people out and about, though there wasn't much danger on Teldrassil anymore ever since the cleansing.

Growing even taller and looming over the ocean, Teldrassil was about half a century old but had been plagued from its initial, shockingly rapid growth. A failed attempt by some older night elves to regain their lost immortality, the massive tree hadn't been blessed by nature and quickly sprouted problems atop its boughs. Furbolg and even certain night elf immigrants were affected by demonic corruption, and somehow even harpies and satyr found ways to sneak into the cavernous branches during the unsafely fast growth. After many decades of attempts by random adventurers, the corrupt elements had finally been expelled, leaving most of Teldrassil save for travel.

A pleasant reminder moved into their view as the couple passed a reclaimed barrow den among the trees. Brand new recruits of the Cenarion Circle gathered around an older fellow running inspections on the cleanliness around the grounds. Such dens were the resting places for druids who had passed basic trials as they communed with nature and tended to the growth of food crops in the area through the Emerald Dream - another dimension that had once been beset by demons but was now a rather stable plane full of young recruits eager to contribute what they could to the planetary environment and food supply. Their instructor, obviously rather ancient like Issinia's mother, looked typical for Kaldorei of their generation who, in the last few years of their now mortal lives, were almost universally employed as teachers as they tried to pass on their vast knowledge to the products of the night elf baby boom that occurred a few years after the end of immortality.

Neither Issinia nor Narrus waved as they rode past; tourists and outlanders had a tendency to often wave at or otherwise distract trainee priestesses and druids during their rituals, well meaning but proving to be a nuisance regardless. Theirs was a somber culture, and even the huntresses and archers that formed the non magical frontline soldiers of the Sentinel Army typically didn't enjoy socializing or even being asked personal questions while on the job.

Once past, the two of them found a relatively large glade where two separate families were also camping at opposite ends. There was enough space for one more group to sit without disturbing the others, and the presence of a few wisps floating around a flat patch of grass overlooking a pond spurned Issinia to kick her heels against her sabre's sides.

"Onward!" she cheered as the cat leapt onto the grassy patch, settling down in the same movement so she could dismount and claim victory for no reason. "This was the end of the race," she announced as she removed her riding gloves.

"Is that so?" he asked as he followed suit, leaving both nightsabres to smell around the area after the two of them removed their saddlebags. They'd only brought enough for a single picnic, which was all they wanted; neither of them worked at jobs that would allow them large amounts of time away from work. Narrus sat down first after roughly arranging theirs old containers; the grass functioned as their blanket. "Oh, I forgot...is it going to happen?" he asked when he noticed that Issinia hadn't sat down with him.

She grinned as the wisps began to circle them, raising her hands toward the air and twirling her fingers. "Let's find out," she chirped as she channeled the power of the stars and asked to borrow a few beams of light for their after midnight foray.

The wisps orbited the two of them a little more quickly, responding to her prayer as the few stars they could see poking between the massive leaves of the canopy shone more brightly than usual. The grass rustled and in a matter of seconds, a series of portobello mushrooms sprouted up out of the ground, forming a perfect circle around them. Because it was only a minor spell, channeling the starlight didn't cause Issinia to fall into any sort of a trance like the bigger spells did, and she had the sense to jump up and down and clap when she saw it worked.

Laughing pleasantly, Narrus let his head fall backward as he braced his hands against the grass and leaned back as well. Issinia had to remind herself that, following the more ancient traditions of their people from before the War of the Ancients, the two of them had sworn not to take the relationship further until after their wedding. During the Vigil things were different in terms of relationships, but that time was over; waiting instead of simply tackling him right there as he leaned back felt like the better choice for them. One of the advantages of being with an older man was that Narrus took no issue with waiting, either.

Shaking the thoughts from her head, Issinia sat down with the bags and baskets of food strategically in between them, blushing lightly but playing it off well as she always did. Narrus plucked one of the mushrooms from the ring and peeled it in half, offering me side to her. "As long as it doesn't have the blue ring on the stem, we're safe," he said as she took her half from him.

She grinned. "Thanks for the warning." She began to rummage through their food, pulling out the spiced bread and a very mildly alcoholic moon juice they'd brought with them. Darnassian bleu was combined with the spicy bread and the mushrooms for a rather tasty natural treat, and the two of them proceeded to sate themselves while their sabres caught a few rabbits in the vicinity.

Even for the older generations, a simple foray outside of their cities never lost its allure. Nature held far more beauty than what the most skilled painters and sculptors could capture (though that didn't prevent them from trying), and the sense of tranquility never lost its effect. The two of them ate slowly, chatting lightly and filling themselves bit by bit for over an hour as they simply enjoyed being outside. The two families camping in the area appeared to be doing the same thing, sitting outside their tents to lounge on the grass and watch the leaves sway high overhead. Issinia had been raised in the Barrens and her long term goal was to serve as a missionary spreading the faith of Elune abroad. Teldrassil would only be a temporary stay during her long life, assuming her plans came to fruition, and she would miss it dearly.

Once they'd eaten their fill and kicked their riding boots off, the two of them stargazed for a bit. Her parents were quite fond of the habit, and would often take her and her siblings into the courtyard of their estate as her mother would recount stories from many thousands of years past to them. Technically, Narrus had lived for one millennia through that time, though older night elves often claimed that the years passed more quickly when you never expected to die and performed the same patrol duties day in and day out.

Rolling over toward him, she watched him unsubtly. They'd been together for twelve years at that point, but true to beings who lived for so long, they'd taken things slow. They had already been together for a few years before their first kiss, and it took longer than that before they were comfortable to hold hands at the appropriate times (many elves of all varieties still frowned upon public displays of affection). Even after so long, there were still certain things they didn't yet know about each other; they had both been so reserved in their behavior. Curiosity got the better of her for more reasons than one, however.

"Narrus..."

"Hmm?" he hummed in response as he continued watching the stars. The light accentuated his face and the part of his chest exposed by the V shaped collar of his shirt, distracting her for a moment.

"Had you ever gone through druidic trials back when you were young?"

It was a touchy subject for the minority of night elf men who weren't druids. That had been the ideal for ten thousand years: the women were warriors and a minority among them would become priestesses, leading their people throughout their eternal servitude to nature. The men were druids, tending to the balance from another plane as they all slept in their barrow dens and a minority became the archdruids who could cause trees to sprout with the wave of a hand. Theirs was a society divided by strict gender roles, both separated since a society of immortals had little need for reproduction save every few thousand years. A minority on both sides showed little aptitude for their respective roles, and thus were relegated to positions that carried little prestige despite being absolutely necessary.

Women who lacked the ferocity of their sisters were relegated to domestic work serving the sentinels, washing the laundry, preparing the food and stocking provisions for huntresses and archers. Men who showed no aptitude for druidic magic were handed weapons from the sentinels and assigned to protect the barrow dens while the druids slept, keeping them undisturbed by any enemies roaming about. Both were absolutely necessary jobs, yet they almost totally lacked any respect from the society.

Narrus, having been a barrow den guard, had obviously had a rather sobering experience during the Long Vigil. Yet as he exhaled and nodded, his countenance didn't indicate any sort of discomfort over the topic she'd wanted to ask about for so long but had refrained from broaching due to traditional elven restraint.

"Of course; most of us did. Even those of us born with silver eyes went through the trials just to see if we could develop an aptitude later on. But," he continued without a hint of embarrassment or hesitation, "I didn't pass, as you can guess. So, my consolation was that I guarded the same den that my father slept at in Felwood; he was never ashamed of me and wanted to have me as close to him as possible, even if he was sleeping."

"Goddess light his path, he sounds like he was a very understanding man."

"He was. As long as I was the best at what I did, then he felt proud." Narrus finally rolled over as well, and the two of them used saddlebags as pillows as they lied on their sides to face each other. "Never once did I feel shy about my profession. When druids slept, there was little to protect the dens from monsters. They could have left a few druids awake to guard, but then that would have defeated the purpose of training to be a druid specifically to sleep and tend to the Dream. My role was very necessary. It's not my role anymore and I'm happy to work a civilian job now, but I'm also proud of what I once did with my life."

There was such a calmness and surety to his words that Issinia couldn't help but feel a bit silly for her previous assumption that the topic might be a sensitive one. Narrus clearly bore no complex over his path in life. "I suppose that the goal is to be comfortable with one's aptitude and to accept it," she murmured without thinking.

If his patience was one of the benefits of being with an older guy, his insight was an occasional detriment. He saw right through her facade. "Not just aptitude, Issa," he said softly. "The specific steps we take in order to better ourselves do not always follow the exact sequence we want."

That sense of being exposed returned to her, and she realized exactly what he was referring to. "This is about the Uldum mission, isn't it?" she asked knowingly.

No judgment ever worked its way into his words, much like her sister in law. And he rarely tended to give outright advice, preferring to usually listen and sympathize instead. Thus when he did state his opinion on such matters, it held a little more weight simply because he shared it so rarely. "It's more about the wellbeing of the woman you're sponsoring at the trainee clinic. From what I understand, she's still registered for a few more months in her treatment program before she'll move on to her own training program for an actual job."

Even though Issinia didn't sense any judgment in his words, she felt herself growing defensive all the same. "Anna is making an incredible amount of progress. I don't think her recovery will rely on a single individual at this point."

"You're more knowledgeable of such matters than I," Narrus conceded. "And I know that whatever choice is best for all will eventually come to pass - the goddess moves in mysterious ways." The conversation skipped a beat before he plucked another mushroom and offered it to her. "I'll pray that the goddess guides us all; you just keep praying for more of these."

That he dropped the subject so quickly made Issinia feel a bit more guilty, though she couldn't quite explain why. Accepting the token of acquiescence regardless, she took a big, long bite from the fungus before handing it back for him to finish. They both laughed giddily, excited and awkward as they engaged in what was probably the most suggestive behavior in the entire twelve years for them, less than half a year from their planned wedding date.

"May our paths be lined with mushrooms all the way toward that which is best," Issinia half chuckled and half sighed as they enjoyed the rest of their evening.

It wasn't much longer than that before the two of them found themselves trekking back toward Darnassus again, joining a miniature caravan of other local workers who had to get to bed for work the next evening. Narrus saw Issinia off to the dormitory as was their habit before returning to the communal lodge he rented alongside other unmarried men.

"Tomorrow is going to be rough for me; there are a lot of reports to file due to all the new recruits we're sending to handle the problems down at the Jade Forest," Narrus said as he stood at the doorstep of the dorms. "Will you be free after four?"

"I think so," Issinia replied. "There's a group therapy session at the end of the night tomorrow, but those typically don't go beyond the normal hours. I'll wait outside the Sisterhood records office for you."

"I'll try to wrap it up as early as possible, then. Love you." Leaning forward, Narrus kissed her between the eyes, inadvertently sending her into a fluster when his light beard tickled her upper lip.

"Oh...goddess...love you too," she chortled.

A gentleman as always, he didn't push things further and took his leave after giving her one last look. She watched his sabre turn a corner toward a stone road leading away - although they both worked at the temple complex, the lodge he stayed at was a good distance away and he would have a bit of a commute in order to find his way back. The moon had already begun to set by the time Issinia finally entered the dormitory, her single night off already over. Creeping slowly so as not to wake Thandra, Issinia had almost reached the door to the room that the two of them shared before she noticed the letter sitting in their box outside the door. An official stamp from the Sisterhood of Elune caused her to freeze.

For a few minutes she stood in place, unable to form coherent thoughts as her heart raced. Tired of the suspense, she set her saddle bags down (the quartermistress for the dorms had already fallen asleep, and while Issinia could stable her sabre herself, there was nowhere to store her riding gear without the quartermistress' key) and took the letter in her hands. It was addressed to her, sent by a representative of the mission in...Uldum.

"Breathe in, breathe out," she whispered to herself as she struggled to open the envelope without damaging it. Being of mixed blood, Issinia lacked the longer, claw like fingernails of her mother and instead had flatter, duller ones like her big troll of a dad. Opening letters was always a more delicate exercise when compared to pureblooded Kaldorei.

Tearing the corner slightly, she let the envelope fall to the ground as she scanned the letter for key words. It bore the insignia that the Sentinel faction used for southern Kalimdor, which they incorrectly claimed as a long lost province due to political posturing against both the Alliance and the Horde. The first and last lines are what made Issinia nearly jump up through the ceiling.

You have been accepted to serve...

"By the night," she murmured in shock as she skipped down to the last line.

The last boat leaves from Rut'theran City in three weeks. We require a confirmation or decline within ten nights of the postmark of this letter.


	10. Chapter 10

Power. For the first time, Issinia felt a non destructive sort of power coursing through her veins. Many times she had used offensive magic before; it was her specialty. Like the older priestesses who would charge in to the front lines beside the huntresses, Issinia could channel then power of the moon to call upon a starfall, and burn hostile targets with beams of starlight. In a few instances she'd even been asked to use it in the field, driving out the seemingly endless demonic infestations in the forests of Kalimdor during her training. She knew the feeling of destructive power very well.

But this power...this was different. It was weak and unfocused, but it was most definitely there. A different kind of power coursed through her veins now as a much more gentle form of the moon's light lent itself to her. Tingling and very faint, there was a tenderness to it that she had never felt before. Issinia had previously wielded the power of the stars only to smite demons, undead and the wicked; to feel that light being used on a person close to her, even if it was weak and untrained, was one of the most eye opening experiences she'd ever had.

Anna pursed her lips tight to avoid laughing out loud as Issinia's glowing hands hovered about half an inch away from her face. For sure the sensation must have tickled quite a bit; Issinia felt it strongly and she was on the giving end. The receiving end must have felt even more intense, though certainly not bad. Moving her hands around, Issinia continued using a basic spell that merely probed for physical wounds for the second time. The first had been on Thandra, as it had to be practiced on someone other than a client for safety reasons. Both instances were under Tinalith's supervision, which made Issinia feel much better, but the still couldn't use it on a client until the first attempt had succeeded safely on a volunteer colleague.

Expending a large amount of her mana pool on the simple yet new spell, Issinia finally toned it down as she slowed the movement of her hands. The tingling sensation died away as did the glow since the two of them were connected, and she felt nothing more than the familiar dryness of reduced mana. That feeling in particular was nothing new; she'd learned to deal with it even during combat situations, though it did feel a bit odd to her to simply lean back and relax in the presence of peers after expending so much mana rather than grabbing a weapon and preparing to finish off enemy lines.

Anna's voice brought her back to the present.

"All done?"

Issinia blinked for a few seconds, shuttering the manaburn away. "Oh...yes, I think that's it," the partially distracted priestess replied. "That was...that was enough. I could sort of, see, I guess you could say, inside of the targeted area. Like a different kind of sight."

Tinalith had been observing the entire time in case the spell failed. That it hadn't appeared to please the head of the program greatly. "Feel would be a more accurate verb to use," the more ancient elf replied in a voice that remained as angelic as it had been on the day she was born. Smiling wryly, Tinalith reached out and nudged her trainee. "What did you feel?"

Issinia and Anna both smirked at each other, knowing what would come next. "I could map out the inside of her nostrils," Issinia replied, much to Anna's amusement. The two of them laughed like children at a gross out joke for a moment. "Up to the very top of the bridge of her nose."

Tinalith smiled, but not join in the juvenile laughter. "And how was the tissue inside her nostrils?" the trainer asked.

"The texture looked a bit sensitive, but there is no swelling, and any tears or perforations have healed up. I think...I think that the herbal treatments have healed the damage done to the inside of her nose," Issinia explained shyly. The damage had been done by nearly half a century of casual drug usage, though out of respect for Anna, she was hesitant to state that part out loud.

"While I usually like to be a bit more conservative in my estimates, there is no denying that your recovery from the residual damage has been remarkable," Tinalith said to Anna, who remained seated in the examination room. "I think it could be accurate to say that in less than two months, your breathing problems might be cured."

Faded amber eyes flickered joyfully, the sort of almost pitiful yet cute joy of a severely ill person being told after years of pain that their body was finally responding to treatment. "Oh, oh my goddess...thank you, thank you all so much!" So overjoyed was she that Anna leapt up and threw her arms around Issinia's neck. In truth, her breathing had slowly returned to normal across a long period of time, but the official confirmation that it wasn't all just some hopeful figment of her imagination lifted her spirits in a very tender, almost private way. "It had been so long, I didn't even realize anymore what it felt like to breathe normally!" She inhaled deeply, snorting like a quilboar to demonstrate her open, painless nasal passages.

"We're as delighted as you are," Issinia chuckled.

"Any way we can help makes us happy," Tinalith said as she led the two women toward the door. "And as far as I can tell, your ears and nose are as close to their original state as they will ever be. But Anna, since this was Issa's first time using a diagnosis spell on an actual client, I'll need to debrief her. Thandra is about to conduct a role playing session where everyone will act out presenting their ideal selves to their initial selves."

Easily and eagerly taking the hint, Anna bowed out of respect for her caregivers and started on her way. "I've always wanted to act! Not professionally, of course, but...this sounds fun!" she chirped as she bounded around a corner and toward the common activity room.

Once she had disappeared from sight, Tinalith took Issinia by the arm and led her over toward the staff room (Tinalith's 'private' office, ironically, was constantly full of staff members and even live in clients helping her with administrative work, and thus was the least likely place for the two of them to speak alone). As it often was during the night, the staff room was empty since everyone else was either taking their turn maintaining the facilities or attending Thandra's role play event. Tinalith sat down and began rolling through the recap of her apprentice's performance.

"You did a good job of holding back from extending the spell too far; it's harmless, but if used improperly then it can cause severe discomfort in the person's eye sockets and sinus cavities. You expended more mana than you would have while smiting an entire battalion of demons, but that's normal for a novice. The most important thing now that you have the basics is practice: as often as you can, I encourage you and your colleagues to test the spell out on each other. The more you repeat the action, the more control you will be able to exercise over it, and at less cost."

"So no actual healing, yet?" Issinia asked more to test the waters than to sate any sort of curiosity.

Tinalith hummed with her mouth closed. The sound unsettled Issinia, who was shocked that her mother's neighbor of some seven thousand years had caught on to her so quickly. "Issa, you're not trying to rush through your training and Anna's treatment, are you?" Her voice didn't increase in pitch at the end, though the sentence was still phrased as a question.

"What? No. Well, maybe," Issinia stammered, caught completely off guard. "I'm just eager to start actually healing people is all."

Raising one of her long eyebrows, Tinalith looked at Issinia as if she were looking right through the trainee. "That's all?" she asked in a pleasant voice that sounded like she was just teasing her younger, though it was obviously a little more than that.

After a few moments of silence, Issinia found no recourse but to give up her attempt at concealment. "I was accepted to the position at the Uldum mission. They require confirmation only nine nights from now, and the boat leaves from Rut'theran in about three weeks."

For a good amount of time beyond Issinia's initial moment of silence, Tinalith simply sat in the chair and looked at her. It was impossible to fathom what someone so aged was thinking; night elves older than Narrus had a real talent for concealing their inner feelings. Denied any indication of what was going on in the mind of her mother's former neighbor and shield sister, Issinia began to fidget and pleaded via her eyes for a response.

"The art of healing is...of the greatest endeavors a person can pursue for the sake of others," Tinalith began, speaking slowly and choosing her words carefully. "Motivation to begin one's career is always admirable; but such a delicate matter never suffers from caution and restraint. Irrespective of the reliance others that you have accepted, to spend extra time in training rather than in the field is never a waste. After all, half the blood in your veins is star born; it is not as though you are running out of time in what will inevitably be a life three or four or more centuries long."

Issinia's ears drooped as she already felt the answer coming. "I know," she sighed.

"And all of this is assuming that you are merely focusing on your own betterment and professional development. But for a healer, that is rarely the case; almost never. For you have given another being the greatest gift, and that is a second chance. Through you, Anna has progressed so much. She possesses that inner fire, and she will prevail, but we are facilitators, not merely counselors; we hold the hand of the sick and the wounded along the way, and provide them that light on the path when fear and abandonment tricks them into shutting their eyes." She reached forward and put a hand on her trainee's shoulder - a rare instance of touch among such an older, self possessed figure. "You have the power to rescind that gift at any time, Issa. But if a healer makes that choice - that choice to take back what they had previously given to those in need - then she might need to ask herself what made her decide to walk the path of a mender and curer from the outset."

Although the words were intended to merely be inspirational and a strong form of advice, they inadvertently stung as well. Tinalith might not have wished for that, but nevertheless she must have been aware given the insight such a person bore.

Unable to look her mother's friend in the eye, Issinia trained her vision to her lap, much as she'd noticed Anna doing during their initial sessions. The irony was overwhelming. "Thank you, Tina," she murmured, feeling rather humbled as she had so many times before when overstepping her bounds in front of an elder.

Unbeknownst to her, she'd just done it again. "Tina?" Tinalith asked while crooking her neck back humorously. "I'm writing a letter to your mom."

"Come on, it's a cute name!" Issinia protested. In her laughter she was able to look her trainer in the eye again, and a sense of both revelation and entrapment mixed around inside of her.

"How do you feel?" Tinalith asked.

"I'm fine."

"Really, Issa?"

"I said I'm fine! Hey, who's the client here?"

It was only then that Issinia realized that Tinalith had never let go of her shoulder, and that combined with the eye contact felt a little overwhelming. "So your reaction isn't avoidance?"

"You really are examining me now, aren't you?"

"I'm like your auntie, I'm allowed to do that," Tinalith chortled in an uncharacteristically animated manner. "Now tell me: have you reached a final decision-"

"Yes."

"-or are you just brushed it aside so you can ruminate on it later?"

"Um...also yes?" Issinia laughed out loud after the sentence, feeling less shy and more resigned and accepting of defeat once under scrutiny.

"Issa."

"Auntie Tina!"

"What? You are so..." For the first time since Issinia had been a child, she saw Tinalith grin wide in an almost giddily annoyed fashion, like someone her own age. She couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh. "Alright Issa, let's be serious now. I'll let you go so save you from further embarrassment, but I want you to do the right thing." Instead of asking for confirmation, Tinalith simply released her grip and stood up, motioning for her trainee to follow. "Go on, now. You're not cleaning something, so you should be at the group event. You're a sponsor and your client needs you."

"Of course, Priestess Tinalith," Issinia said more respectfully as she stood and bowed to her trainer. She even managed to keep her lips shut tight until she left the staff room and bursted out laughing again.

Outside in the hall, she could already hear the sound of the role play session underway. The common activity room was only two halls down, and from the sounds that reached her long ears, the clients and facilitators alike were all having quite a bit of fun.

Just outside the doorway, she could spy the front of the room where the chairs and tables had been cleared away, and a frilly red streamer had been hung across the wall. Thandra was seated at the front of the room, looking thrilled as Anna stood next to a flip chart with a stick figure drawing of herself next to her on an easel. She rotated her wrists and used her hands to talk quite a bit, and although Issinia couldn't see everyone else as they were seated, she could certainly hear the raucous laughter.

"And rule number thirty two," Anna lectured to the drawing of herself. "Our ideal self doesn't leave her toenail clippings on the bathroom floor, so we really need to cut that out."

That comment in particular caused Thandra's client to choke on her own saliva while laughing at the self deprecating comment. Covering her mouth with her hand again, Issinia remained in the hallway, not wanting to walk in and disrupt the scene. Out of view of all but Thandra, she looked up the hall as the role play finally took on a tone of half seriousness inside.

Out on the walls were a series of photographs. The technology was imported by the gnomes, but even the ancient night elves had to compromise on certain ideals for the sake of practicality. Natural landscapes of Kalimdor and even the other continents of the planet were featured, most of them with cheering teams of sentinels, priestesses and druids posing for the camera. Jungles, forests, plans and mountains were all featured, but down the hall Issinia's keen eyesight fixated on one in particular.

Sand dunes surrounded an oasis full of priestesses and priests, female and male, children of the stars and even outlander converts to the faith. A number of tol'vir natives alongside a single sand pygmy stood among the group, posing as well in front of a mission center for drilling water wells and distributing free medicine. The moon in the photo shone just right to give the top of the dunes in the background an almost silver glint, and Issinia could almost hear a drum beat as sabre paws pattered on the sand.

Movement inside the room caught her eye, and she turned back to see Anna speaking a bit more solemnly. There were no tears and no irregular breathing rhythms, but there was a level of restraint there not present whenever Anna and Issinia spoke in private. She was obviously holding back - Issinia knew the woman well enough to tell merely by her body language. Anna was progressing, but deep down inside, Issinia knew that she wasn't ready yet.

She sighed deeply as she watched, cursing her luck and what she felt was her own selfishness as she prayed that the photo of Uldum would just fall off the wall face down.


	11. Chapter 11

Deep purple drapes were the only sources of color in the room other than the pain white couches. The walls, the floor, even the door were the light grey color typical of Kaldorei stonework. The door opened in the plain room, allowing two women to enter. Casually held back in a very loose ponytail, Issinia's indigo mane both clashed with and complemented the drapes, though her gown almost matched the walls. Straightening up her posture only slightly, her movements free and fluid after she'd left formality behind so long ago. A confident grin that was tame a d controlled marked her features as she welcomed a patient into the safe room after numerous other sessions.

Anna followed her inside, head held high in a sign of her ever improving posture. Issinia's lax attitude toward simple formalities had yielded the opposite result, and the trainee priestess had found that Anna functioned much better when given the freedom to act on her own.

At a point of even greater informality, Anna cracked a few polite jokes as she was welcomed inside and instinctively walked toward the couch closer toward the door. Both were rather comfortable, but the client had staked out her favorite one weeks ago.

Issinia waited for her client to sit down before taking her own seat. "This room has become rather familiar, hasn't it?"

"You know, I didn't like it at first," Anna replied, "but it really has grown on me by now."

"Maybe it's the drapes?"

Anna grinned readily, reveling in small, whimsical observations. "Probably the drapes."

After an obligatory round of remarks on the new decor in the recreation room, Issinia allowed a brief lull to work its way into the conversation before she continued. "Alright, we had a very good experience with the role playing yesterday. From my vantage point in the hallway, I had a great view of your plans to work toward your ideal self."

Resting her cheek in the palm of her hand bashfully, Anna looked down for a moment. "Do you think it's realistic?" she asked, a sincere sense of self consciousness in her voice.

"Absolutely. You know, I'm not here to feed you fantasies; we have to be honest when we're looking at potential and achievement. But everything you desire for yourself is definitely achievable and very reasonable for someone who has shown the sort of rapid development you have. You're a strong person, Anna."

"Well...I don't quite feel that way yet, but it's great to hear that."

"Why not, though?"

Anna's demeanor became a bit more subdued, though not closed off or uncomfortable. "I understand that you and Priestess Tinalith don't simply make things up when you comment on the progress I've been making personally. I believe it, and trust me - I am so, so very thankful for all the confidence you've helped me build, and all the demons you've helped me exorcise. Being rescued by those sentinels wasn't enough; had I not been lucky enough for the blessing that is this facility, I probably would have found a way to fall back into my old habits again."

"What matters is that the goddess has blessed you, and shown you this path. You're here, you're safe and we're here with you every step of the way. But what is it that makes you think you're not so strong?"

At first, Anna looked a bit trapped. The question wasn't particularly direct, but she didn't particularly seem to enjoy it nonetheless. There was no distrust present between them; however, the woman looked like she was trying to articulate a lingering fear in the back of her mind. "Despite all the progress I've made, all of it is personal; it's all internal. But how I relate to the world that I wish to return to is out of my control."

"If I understood you correctly, you feel as if you're unable to affect your own fate in the world?"

"Y...yes, that's basically it. Eventually I will pass this program, whether on this first try or if I require an extension of a few months, and I must leave the facility. And while I know that the Sisterhood will help me find gainful employment, their responsibility for my life will not continue forever, and it shouldn't; the goal is for me to become self sufficient. I have to stand on my own."

"Does that scare you?"

"Of course, Issa. How could it not? I might be a thousand years old, but I was so naïve- like all of us who lived during the Long Vigil. Ours was a world without money, without poverty, without want, without...well, I'm sure your mother has regaled you with numerous stories, as has Priestess Tinalith. And so many of us were unprepared for a world full of greed and hate and injustice...I already tried the transition from the support of my shield sisters at the grove to venturing out on my own, and I didn't even last a month before I was abducted. Then I spent half a century in captivity, but captivity is still safe in a way; a cage protects as much as it imprisons. I've never truly lived on my own, ever."

"I know we haven't discussed this before, but have you considered contacting-"

"-my old shield sisters and blood relatives at the grove?" Anna interjected nervously. "No, no and no. For the same reason that I accept the name 'Anna' now. The starry eyed new druidess fresh out of training is gone. And like I've said before, I don't view that as acquiescence toward what I went through; to me, it's just acknowledgement of the reality of my situation."

"Of course."

"So I thought about this in my sober moments during my bondage, and even in the past few months here: what if I ever tried to go back? And to me, the question is the same as some foolish ones among our people who thought they could regain immortality after we lost it half a century ago. They're just chasing an impossible and, to be frank, undesirable dream as part of their denial of reality: that there is no going back to the way things were, and we..." Anna paused for a moment, staring off into space as if she'd been moonstruck. "...we have to move on. All of us who are from that era. Eternity met its end; we're part of the brave new world, and we understand the value of life even better. And..."

Preemptively, Issinia joined Anna on her side of the couch. In the past, it had helped her to speak when she began to close up, and this time it seemed to visibly reassure the woman when her breathing increased for a few seconds before evening out. "It's okay," Issinia said while doing her best not to make excessive eye contact or to overtly try to console Anna; she didn't want to be patronizing.

"And we all accept the change in different ways. For me, part of accepting what happened to me and understanding that..." Anna sniffled only once and rolled her shoulders against the back of the couch before continuing. It was clear that as difficult as this topic in particular was for her, her determination to move on was greater. "...that I didn't deserve it, and that it wasn't my fault but it happened all the same...for me, a part of that is letting go of the naïve grove girl I used to be, just as I let go of the mindless, devoted servant of nature that I also was back then. One day...one day, I will go back to my ancestral grove; I swear to Elune by that. I will go back to see the only home I knew for a thousand years, no matter how much the changes that may have taken place scare me. I will go back regardless of whether or not the women I shared my life with are still there. And if they are there, then I will face them and tell them everything. But...not now. Not when I haven't made it yet."

Issinia didn't hesitate, feeling the need to keep the conversation moving when the client was speaking so openly about her fears. "By 'made it,' do you mean to successfully live out in the world by yourself?" she asked almost rhetorically, tempering her words with active listening.

"Alone and unassisted. That's why I left the grove in the first place. Until I can successfully support myself, I won't feel like I can face them. They will not judge me, at least I don't think they will, but it's not about them. I need that for myself. And, currently," Anna explained whole gesturing to herself, "I am not capable of living on my own. I feel so much improvement in myself already, but I know that I'm not ready yet."

Touched despite Anna's apprehension, Issinia could t conceal her smile. "You're full of hope. You're entirely different from the first time you entered this room. You might need more time to work some practicalities out, but I am confident that you will; you've achieved so much in such a little time." Issinia grinned when Anna nearly blushed, and decided to just speak openly even if it embarrassed the woman. "I'm proud of you."

Failing miserably at trying to conceal her own ear to ear grin, Anna looked down shyly, almost beyond words. "I...oh...thank you so much for saying that," she laughed awkwardly. It was the sort of cute discomfort of a person flattered, which would have been impossible for her a few months before. "I want that so much. I know I've already been blessed by the goddess with so much, all things considered, but I want to achieve more. And, although I am patient even if I must wait another half century, I want to see my old village so badly."

Once again, Issinia spoke freely and without thinking. "Something tells me that you'll be ready much sooner than that. One way or another, the Sisterhood will ensure that you're able to gain the skills you need to become a productive member of society."

Anna replied with a lopsided smile. "You'll...you'll be here to ensure that, too...right?" There was a hint of worry in her voice, and the fact that her confidence hadn't reached the level of a fully independent person yet became clear.

Issinia felt her heart rate increase at the question. She hadn't slept at all the day before, and though she'd managed to hide that fact, her brain was as tired as her body. For so many hours she'd tossed and turned, judging herself a hundred times over as she struggled to reach a coherent conclusion about her own personal choices. In truth, she hadn't resolved much; all she'd done was forced herself to rearrange her and Thandra's entire closet and mentally review every mistake she'd made in her life until the moon came up.

When faced with a living representation of the reason she'd joined the program, however, she found it easier to give an answer out loud, if not convince herself of it internally. "Yes, of course, Anna," she forced herself to chuckle.

In what had to have been the shortest session they'd ever held, Issinia and Anna exited the safe room only s few minutes later, finding no reason to stretch the session out when Anna had spoken of her personal revelation so immediately, readily and surely. The goal wasn't to spend a specified amount of time talking; it was simply to help the woman reach self actualization and set a plan for ordering her life after so much pain. After having completed that so easily, they only discussed a few lighter topics of job skills courses and other practicalities before exiting.

Issinia led Anna down the hallway toward the reception area. So few visitors ever came to the clinic that even the waiting area out front was treated like another part of the communal living space, and seeing as how all the clients left the grounds so infrequently, many of them often used the room as a hangout spot. Nobody was doing such a thing on that particular night, and only a very bored looking temporary hire sat behind the reception desk reading a trashy novel with an obscene cover. Tutting her tongue in disapproval as they walked by, Issinia led Anna over toward a chair next to a table of newspapers.

"I need to freshen up before we go out to the market tonight," she said as Anna sat down. "Just give me five minutes?"

"As long as that lady doesn't try to talk to me," Anna whispered.

Stifling what would have been a much louder laugh, Issinia set her purse down on the table and walked into an adjacent hallway. The restroom was empty, and she found herself free to stand in front of the naturally enchanted wash basin with a little wisp powered fountain spraying upward in reaction to her approach. Bracing herself against it, she stared into the mirror, giving herself a good, long look.

Tired of hiding how she felt for so long, she resigned herself toward making what seemed like the ethical choice. "With my warmest regards to the Sisterhood mission in Uldum," she recited out loud. "My warmest regards to the representatives of the Sisterhood of Elune in Southern Kalimdor Autonomous Province...Autonomous Region...I regret to inform you...

"...I wish to inform you...regret...wish...that I must politely decline your most gracious invitation." Footsteps echoed on the other side of the wall as someone hurried down the hallway, and Issinia quickly shut her mouth in fear that she might be heard. Once she heard the door toward the roof access stairwell close, she waited another minute or so before continuing. "I must unfortunately decline your most gracious invitation. I am currently committed to sponsoring a recovering sister in our substance abuse rehabilitation program, which will not conclude for two and a half more months. I cannot, in good conscience, resign from the program before we conclude that her condition has...I have to pee."

The suspense tickled her bladder just a little too much, and she scurried off to one of the bathroom stalls. Once she'd finished and washed up, she realized that it had been more than five minutes and began to feel a little self conscious.

Out in the hallway, she tried to think of a non embarrassing excuse. "Sorry about that, they were out of...uh...Anna?"

The chair where Anna had been sitting was empty, and none of the newspapers had been touched. Proving that Anna did retain a bad habit of certain childlike behaviors when unwatched, however, Issinia's purse had been opened. It wasn't the first time, and Anna was always extremely apologetic, but sneaking around and looking through people's belongings had been a point they were working on - though to Anna's credit, she never, ever stole.

But she did sift through belongings. Including reading letters.

Including Issinia's acceptance letter to the Uldum mission.

Cursing herself silently, Issinia closed her eyes for a moment and tried to ignore all the scenarios running through her head. Her pulse hit the roof and she could practically hear it rushing through her long, slender ears, and it was only the almost disrespectfully informal voice of the temporary receptionist that snapped her out of her shock.

"Your friend went down the hall," the receptionist mumbled from behind a book cover featuring a druid strategically covered by wrapped vines.

"Th-thank you," Issinia mumbled and then stumbled back into the hall.

Those footsteps from earlier...images of Anna gasping and covering her mouth with one hand while staring wide eyed at the letter ran through Issinia's mind. The woman had recovered so much self confidence; surely, she wouldn't be shaken by that one letter.

Right?

Slowly at first, Issinia walked toward the end of the empty hall that was mostly used for storing mops and buckets. At the end was the heavy door that led to an access stairwell for the roof, the upper gallery and the minaret tower overlooking the orchard. Every muscle in Issinia's body trembled as she drew nearer to that door, draining her of her usual reservation and resolve. Logic dictated that perhaps Anna was just a bit upset and needed time alone, but when Issinia could hear light footsteps sprinting up the access stairwell, the worst scenarios tortured her, refusing to let her exhausted mind rest.

"Anna!" she called out as she pushed the door open and followed the sound.


	12. Chapter 12

Issinia kicked her sandals off, sprinting up the stairs just as she heard the footsteps above her disappear into the upper gallery atop the clinic. Every few seconds, her mind fluctuated between clearing itself of all conscious thought and racing through every worst case scenario she could imagine. The stairwell was made of stone but the steps were made of wood, and sound didn't carry particularly well. All the same, she focused on the faint patter in the gallery three stories above, frustrated at her inability to discern how fast Anna was moving.

"Stupid, stupid, careless and stupid!" Issinia hissed at herself as she struggled to hurry up the cramped stairwell. Since it was only an access stairwell for maintenance, it wasn't that wide or high, and she found herself unable to move as swiftly as she wanted. Anna, being noticeably smaller than her, would likely be able to run at a much higher speed inside.

The gallery atop the building was supported by numerous columns and was designed for its view of the orchard; there was only a short railing at the side, leading to a sheer drop down the side of the building. A three story fall wouldn't be life threatening for most night elves, but it wasn't the gallery that worried Issinia; it was the minaret reaching even higher up.

After the loss of immortality, many older night elves had felt they had nothing to live for and there was a spike in the suicide rate for a few years. Nobody spoke of it openly and some denied it had ever occurred, but Issinia had access to the statistics via her position. Taking one's own life was considered a sin by many of them, but a desperate enough individual would no longer be concerned with such matters.

Was Anna that desperate? Issinia had seen the changes in her, and felt the progress the woman had made. She was a remarkable individual, but why else would she run up here of all places?

"Anna!" Issinia called out as she pushed through the door at the top of the stairs.

The gallery was mostly empty aside from a few chairs and a folded up table that Tinalith hadn't found a use for quite yet. It would be a great place to hold parties and gatherings for the people checked in to the clinic, though to date it hadn't yet been used. And considering how hard Issinia's heart was pounding against her chest cavity, she found it a bit difficult to admire what a nice place it was.

Another door swung shut to her left, causing her to jump as she sought the place of the sound. Across the space of the covered gallery, all the way on the opposite end, a door in a stone wall swung back and forth. Bile nearly rose up in Issinia's throat when she realized that it was the door to the minaret. Mental calculations of just how high it was exactly flashed through her mind, causing her to lose her usual agility as she stumbled over toward the door.

"Wait! Anna, wait!" Her voice echoed off the walls of the minaret as she burst through through the door, and she shrieked in frustration when she realized that she'd have to bolt up another set of high, narrow stairs. "Please wait, just one second!"

Issinia's frantic footsteps bounced off the stone of the tower as well, and she couldn't tell if Anna had reached the to or not. There were no sounds of sobs or heavy breathing that she could detect, leaving her clueless as to the woman's emotional state. Issinia slipped on the steps a few times, slowing her down and shocking her by her own sudden loss of coordination.

A drop in air pressure signaled that she'd reached the top of the stairs, and she nearly fell through the opening at the top and into the observation deck at the top. The muscles in her back cramped up from the strain of the shock she received, and her eyes even began to water when she choked on her own saliva.

Anna was standing on the railing of the minaret's observation deck, peering down at the orchard below.

It was like a horror story at the Darnassus Theatre. Anna stood motionless as her green dress flapped in the light breeze, stiff and unmoving as if catatonic. She was so close, and so easy to tackle and restrain at that stage, and yet Issinia found herself grounded by the intense pain in her back muscles, alongside the crushing sense of blame she felt inside. Time stood still and she questioned every step she'd ever taken, every word she'd ever said, every thought she'd ever had about the woman she was supposed to save.

Lifting a single foot off the railing, Anna looked completely serene and at peace with herself. And then she let herself fall.

"No! No! Nooooo!" Issinia screamed as she fought through the strain and crawled over toward the railing. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I wasn't going to leave you!"

Eyes watering even more, Issina fell against the five foot high stone wall and threw her arms over the wooden railing, pulling herself up to watch Anna fall.

Limp like a rag doll, the fallen druidess plummeted five stories toward the ground, neither thrashing nor struggling as she approached certain doom. All Issinia could do was sob open mouthed as she watched her charge rapidly draw near to a violent end through blurry, tear filled eyes. Her vision had become so unclear that she had to wipe her face in order to discern what the silent green explosion was.

"Wha...wha...aaiiieee!"

At the very last moment, Issinia let herself slip back over the side of the railing, narrowly avoiding a collision with a navy blue blob that whizzed right past her. Uneven and unfocused as if it was changing direction, the blob continued to soar up toward he sky, leaving a bright green trail of energy behind it.

Pieces of the blog became detached as grey and navy blue feathers dwindled toward the ground, marking the trail the storm crow blazed through the night sky. Weak, injured, unfocused but still very much capable, the storm crow with faded but still glowing eyes performed loops in the air as it tested its weathered wings. It was not skilled; it was not graceful; it was not quite ready to fly out into the windy world yet; but it was capable in its own way. Alive and capable.

Fluttering wings flapped frantically as it tried to land in the orchard, falling into another chaotic green explosion near the ground. A woman in a green dress rolled into the dirt beneath the residual energy clouds, bracing herself adequately enough not to be hurt but rolling and slumping in the grass as if she were far too dizzy and disoriented to stand.

Issinia had already jumped over the railing herself, though on the other side of the minaret, and slid down a gutter onto the roof of the gallery. On nimble elven feet used to combat, she dropped down onto the gallery deck and then from windowsill to windowsill as she scaled the three story high wall of the rehab clinic's structure and nailed a perfect roll in the grass below. Her heart pounded hard enough to nauseate her as she sprinted toward Anna and scooped the woman up in her arms.

"Anna! How could you do something like that I was so worried!" she cried out while squeezing the woman in a tight hug as if Anna would fall apart if not held together. "You told me you aren't able to shift anymore - I've never been so scared in my entire life!"

Although the hug was meant to be protective, Issinia temporarily forgot that she was half troll and an entire head and half a neck taller than Anna. Her bear hug almost caused Anna's eyes to pop out as her feet kicked in the air with no grounding. "I can't breathe!" she croaked while flapping her arms and legs around in desperation. Issinia released her enough for the woman to stand again, though she still needed help to remain standing upright.

Shock and confusion clashed inside Issinia's mind. Too confused to remember her professional restraint, she babbled instead. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, but I'm not going to Uldum! It's okay!" she gasped, grabbing Anna by the shoulders and shaking her in the process.

"I'm going to throw up! I'm going to throw up!" Anna cried out as if she were being tortured. Wisely, Issinia stopped shaking her and even helped her fan herself as she tried to hold the contents of her stomach down.

"I'm not leaving you, I swear! Oh Anna, why did you do that!"

Despite the confusion that the smaller woman likely shared, she didn't appear to have any trouble figuring out what the problem was. "I wasn't trying to hurt myself!" she gasped.

"Then what were you trying to do!"

"I just had to see!" Anna yelled, not so much angry as anguished. "I'm sorry, I know I need to stop looking in other people's purses, but I just saw that letter and I felt like I had to prove it!"

"Prove what - Anna, I have no way of knowing what that means!"

"I had to prove to myself that if you left me, then I could stand on my own!"

"I'm not leaving you, I swear! I'm not going! I'd never leave you!"

Calmed down somewhat, Anna panted for a few moments while looking at Issinia through equally watery eyes. Her expression was literally the same way a person would look after they'd been hit on the nose and lost their sense of balance. "But...Issa...no, I can't. I can't ask you to take me on as a burden like that."

"Don't say that!" Issinia wiped her eyes again so she could see the druidess of the Talon before her more clearly. "Oh goddess, don't talk like that. You are not a burden, Anna. You're a good, kind person in need of help, and even if it weren't my job, I'd be here for you all the way."

Anna pursed her lips pensively like a thousand year old child. "I know about your goals, though. That letter presents an opportunity for you. How can you..." She let her head hang low, avoiding Issinia's gaze. "How can you choose to stay with me when you could chase your dream? I wouldn't choose me."

"Because I need to help you, Anna. I know you're strong, and eventually you'd be able to pick yourself up again, but it would make things hard on you and that's not what I want to do. If I lose this opportunity in Uldum then forget it, I don't want it!"

Refusing to raise her head up, Anna literally twiddled her thumbs, the first time Issinia had ever seen somebody do that. Her body wasn't shaking or trembling at all, and she actually appeared quite somber. "I feel so stupid," she whined.

"No! Well...I mean, it wasn't the smartest choice to throw yourself off the top of a five story minaret to test your ability to fly for the first time in almost fifty years." Anna's head snapped up and her jaw dropped open in a pained expression at Issinia's words. "Wait, okay! Just let me finish! It wasn't the best way to test if you could stand on your own, but what's done is done, and...Elune be praised, do you realize what you just did?"

Lost and dumbstruck, Anna just blinked a few times while staring slack jawed at her facilitator. Gears began turning and for a few brief seconds, her amber eyes appeared to glow just a little more brightly. "I...I...oh...oh! Oh oh oh I oh!" Anna gasped while covering her mouth with both hands. "I shift! Shift! Shifaaaaa," she stammered, sounding moved beyond words. "I crowed into form shift! I...I shifted into crow form!"

"You shifted into crow form!"

Like two gigantic, giddy children, they grabbed each other's hands and jumped around in a circle. They both looked ridiculous and they didn't give a damn, laughing their heads off at Anna's progress. It was sloppy and foolhardy, but she had shifted nonetheless.

Issinia hugged Anna close, causing her to gag again. "Anna...you are never a burden. I was tempted...Elune forgive me, I was tempted, but deep down in my heart I knew it was wrong. No matter what, you're not alone, and I won't let anything disrupt your progress. I'm here for you, even if I receive more offers, and me, Tinalith, Thandra, Jupiter, everybody, we're all here for you. Nobody is leaving!"

Sappy and touched, Anna looked up at the larger woman in a way that was as cheesy as it was endearing. "Except for that new receptionist. I really don't need her around," Anna laughed out loud. The two of them looked at each other for a quiet moment before they both burst out laughing again.

Guilt continued to prick at Issinia's heart, though much less so once she'd confessed that temptation had fooled her for a period. "I'm sorry for not always being the best helper I could be," she sighed.

"What? You're sorry? No, stop. I'm the one in need here. Issa...there's nothing to apologize for. You helped me get this far, and you're choosing to stay when you don't even have to."

"That's not correct!"

"No, it is correct. Nothing can stop you from leaving. And I will always remember that."

Anna's fledgling monologue was cut off when the doors to the clinic burst open. The receptionist who read trashy novels in public stumbled out, rushing toward them in a state of panic. The woman looked absolutely psycho as she waved her hands at Anna, as if she was suddenly the one who would prevent some great tragedy from occurring.

Ignoring her entirely, the facilitator and client looked back to each other again. "I'm so, so very proud of you," Issinia sighed over the receptionist's insistent questions. "You are going to recover fully, Anna. We're not supposed to make promises about future progress but I'm sure of it this time. You're going to recover...and I will help you the entire way."

That sappy look returned, and Anna smiled warmly even as she stuck one hand in the receptionist's face and shoved her away so she and Issinia could talk. "Thank you, Issa...thank you. I don't even know what to say...but there's nobody else I'd want helping to guide me along the path than you."

By accident, she knocked the receptionist into a bushel of appels, causing the annoying woman to fall against the tree and beneath a rain of disturbed apples. Issinia and Anna didn't even notice, laughing again at their minor episode as they walked back toward the clinic. Although they needed to inform Tinalith of Anna's recovered ability to shift, they would probably leave out the part about her jumping off the top of a five story tower. The fact of her progress was enough...

...she was going to be alright.


	13. Chapter 13

_Four years later._

Issinia offered a blanket to the shivering pandaren woman, helping her to bundle up despite the warm air in the Townlong Steppes. Recovery from addiction often caused odd reactions in different individuals, and the furry female fully understood that the chill was all in her head. Regardless, she felt more comfortable wearing the blanket as if it were cold, and Issinia was happy to oblige if it helped the client to feel better. Small niceties like that were part of their success; though relatively new, the Sisterhood of Elune mission in the region had built a reputation for their kind treatment of the lost and the sick who showed up at their proverbial doorstep.

A few more people milled about beneath the wide tarp without walls, taking cover in the shade it provided from the sun outside. Living among the outlanders required one to conform in many ways; Issinia had finally grown used to being awake partially during the daylight hours. Once the woman who always felt cold returned to the enclosed tent she shared at the camp with several other clients - not patients, as Tinalith had reminded them - Issinia was able to field questions from a few new arrivals who were waiting in a line as if queuing up.

Four of them - three pandaren standing at the edge of the tarp and one very large but peaceful mogu kneeling outside - regarded Issinia a bit shyly. "Come in, please," she chortled while beckoning them with a downward motion of all four fingers, as was common on their continent. "There's no need to line up. There's enough soup for everybody; please, help yourselves." She pointed toward a long table where Jupiter, in full priest gear, was serving hot bowls to the residents of the camp as if her were a volunteer, regaling more of his old stories to whoever was in earshot.

Nodding and thanking her profusely, all of the group save a rather thin pandaren man left to receive warm soup, one of the more common food items allowed in the controlled diets at the mission. Registration could be handled later; Issinia rarely engaged in formalities with new arrivals, allowing them to mingle at the site for a period of time to get comfortable before officially checking them in.

The thin man looked around nervously, hugging himself a bit. He was obviusly experiencing withdrawal from an unnamed substance, but didn't appear to want to leave, which was a good sign judging by how poor his condition appeared. "Is there...a talk here?" he asked cautiously. His Common was near perfect and his unease was obviously due to the condition of his health.

Smiling as warmly as she could, Issinia easily fell into the sort of calming, nonchalant body language she'd mastered when speaking with the undecided or uncomfortable who approached the Sisterhood. "Ah, you must be referring to the introductory speech by one of our greatest success stories," she replied in a low, humming tone. "Yes, Sister Anna will begin shortly. She once struggled through addiction, and...well, it's better to hear the story from her directly. Come!" Issinia reached one hand toward the soup table and the other toward the nervous man. "All are welcome here."

Hesitant at first, the thin man gripped his jacket a bit tighter as he took baby steps into the covered buffet and seating area. "I...oh...I don't have much money," the man mumbled uncomfortably. "I spent most of it on...my...I don't have much money."

"You don't need any; all of our services are provided free of charge. Please, the soup is still warm; you and your companions look like you all just walked a long way."

"We did when we heard about the mission. We experienced some...difficulties...along the way. I...thank you so much, really. We haven't eaten since yesterday."

"There is no need to thank us; not ever." Issinia ushered the now less nervous man toward his companions as they chatted with Jupiter before turning her gaze back toward all the chairs that had been set up facing a low stage.

A number of clients at the mission had already begun to sit down. Many had already eaten and undertaken their chores for the day; others were already seated and finishing their meals as they waited. All things considered, the new mission had been a fantastic success in a region that had, until recently, been plagued by petty drug peddlers and growers. While local authorities had rooted out the origin of the problem, they'd proven ineffective at healing the damage already done, and the Sisterhood had practically been begged to set up their mobile treatment clinic. Proud of their work and thrilled at the recovery the locals had begun to make, Issinia leaned against one of the poles supporting the high tarp as she observed.

"It's incredible, isn't it?"

Smiling with her eyes closed for a second, Issinia soon turned to find Anna approaching. None of the current clients would recognize her, and thus she was free to speak with her former facilitator as they wished.

Relaxing as Anna finally reached her, Issinia admired the non priestess Sisterhood uniform that the shorter woman wore. "You were a part of what made this program such a success," Issinia chortled.

"Oh, stop. I was enrolled in the program, not working on it."

"You were, in a way. Your patience with all my beginner's mistakes gave me time to develop that new facilitator training workshop I handle. Plus, your success story was part of what convinced the higher ups back home to expand the program internationally." That sappy feeling began to overtake Issinia again, and she didn't hold back. "I've never thanked you properly. I know I wasn't an easy counselor to have in the beginning."

Pursing her lips tight, Anna's resolve broke and she laughed out loud. "Nooo...it wasn't like that..."

"Swear?"

Anna just pursed her lips again and crossed her arms. "Maybe..." she replied, to the amusement of both of them. Once they quoted down, Issinia gave her the same look.

"Thanks. I mean it."

Grinning with far more confidence than she'd ever shown during her own time in rehab, Anna truly did look like the changed person she was. "I accept your thanks. If anything, because I know you won't accept any other answer."

"Hey, I'm not your facilitator anymore; you're a regular, clean living, everyday citizen. I can bully you now and it isn't a breach of trust."

Anna smiled and looked down. Though they were both employed by the mission by that point, they didn't see each other as often as before due to their work schedules. As the Sisterhood's most sought after motivational speaker on the entire Pandarian continent, Anna did have to travel a bit. Looking up at Issinia for the first time in a few months, Anna's faded eyes bore a thoughtful glint to the,.

"Do you ever wonder what would have happened had you gone to Uldum?" Anna asked. Though she retained the greatly increased confidence in her voice, there was a measure of self consciousness to it.

But Issinia needed no time to think about her answer. "Honestly, I do think about it sometimes. But it would have been perhaps the greatest mistake of my life; I would have hurt you, sold myself out and missed out on all the other people we've helped by expanding this program." She shook her head as if to dispel the slight hint of doubt she noticed in Anna's demeanor. "I have absolutely no regrets. None."

Vulnerability crept in to Anna's features if for only a split second before fading away. "Thank you, Issa," she whispered, almost looking choked up for the first time in four years.

Their quiet moment was allowed to linger a bit longer before Tinalith's slight footsteps approached and broke the silence. "Alright, Anna. We have thirty six clients gathered - it's a good time to get started."

"Of course, of course," Anna replied. "I don't want to keep everyone waiting."

The group split up as Anna moved to the stage in front of where all three dozen eager listeners had taken their seats. It was a mixed crowd of those in need of guidance and help; mostly from the continent, some from beyond. Numerous pandaren were seated, many of them thinner than usual after their struggles with addiction. A handful of hozen sat among them, and the mogu - who appeared fine aside from a haggard look to his eyes - sat on a mat in the middle. There were even a few goblins and humans thrown into the mix in a sign of consistent immigration across the globe. Some of the people were uneasy at the thought of being called on, others were tired and exhausted from their withdrawal symptoms, but all of them bore the same look of hope in their eyes as they waited for the legen who had beaten a nearly fifty year addiction to become one of the most respected women in the public speaking circuit.

Issinia followed Tinalith, who had already staked a seat out next to Jupiter. Both of them were a bit older and always discreet in their behavior, though word tended to travel fast among the missionaries. They sat a few inches apart, honestly believing that nobody knew they were seeing each other in private, and Issinia nearly giggled in the way her mother did at how cute the two older people were.

Next to them was Narrus, wearing a similar uniform to Anna's. He'd adjusted to life on the move as a missionary quite well, though since he mostly still handled administrative work, the only real change in his job was that he now worked in a tent instead of an office. The real change to their life, however, was bouncing on his knee. At two years old, their daughter - the first of several children they wanted to eventually have - had already become a world traveler, even dealing with boats and portals like a little trooper. Though her name - Ireth - was an amalgamation of the name of Issinia's aunt and the birth name of her mother, the toddler's features were those of Narrus. Added to the fact that Ireth always wanted to sit on her father's lap, the girl's appearance and demeanor had been the source of numerous jokes in the family.

Taking a seat next to her husband and little girl, Issinia scooted a little closer as she watched the stage from the back row.

"Gub gub gub gub," Ireth babbled as she finally let her mother hold her, a rare instance of calm detachment from Narrus.

"Watch auntie speak, Ireth," Issinia half laughed and half whispered to the little girl. Narrus, having just finished his shift, was a bit tired and sufficed by just putting his arm around Issinia's shoulder and falling halfway asleep during the introductory talk.

Murmurs in the audience died away as Anna took the stage. A number of the new clients had passed her on the way to the center of the camp without recognizing her, and gasped and oohed when they realized that the demure, humble woman in front of them was the person they'd heard so much about. Clasping her hands in front of her, she gazed over the audience, making eye contact with a good number of them before she spoke, unable to and even unconcerned with hiding the wide smile that had plastered itself on her face.

"Welcome, friends, to the Sisterhood of Elune mission in the Steppes. As I'm sure all of you know, it's our duty and our pleasure to assist you all as you begin the healing process. So many people have been hurt by the synthetic poisons in the world...and so many people have also been rejected for crimes that were not their own.

"We are not bad people; those of us who have struggled with addiction, I mean. We are not criminals. The pushers, the dealers - those are criminals. And like the wider society that must deal with the results, we are more of the victims. No matter what some people tell you, no matter how some people might make you feel, the most important thing to remember as you take the first step in the healing process is: you are not a bad person."

More murmurs were punctuated by nods and words of agreement. A few people in the audience hugged themselves subconsciously, a common nervous mannerism, while others straightened up in their chairs, uplifted by the kind words. Sitting in the middle of them all was the ten foot tall mogu, his fierce visage breaking into a pained, downcast frown that spoke of numerous scars left by emotional and verbal abuse. A single tear dropped down his stone cheek, but he nodded alongside his travel companions at the reassurance.

"My name is Anna; and I am the first person to have successfully completed the Sisterhood's treatment plan. For half a century, I, too, was afflicted by addiction. For half a century, I found myself unable to live a normal life. But after half a century, with the Sisterhood's help, I was able to recover and begin my new life.

"And you all can too; every single one of you. And that's why the mission is here. Let me start from the beginning...

 **A/N: and so ends the tale of how Issinia learned to properly care for those in need, and how Anna was able to help others find their way. And you get to see Issinia and Narrus with their first of four children.**

 **I planned this story for far longer than I did others. While I tried my best to prepare for writing about the humanistic approach to psychotherapy without directly mentioning it, I am not an expert; I apologize if some parts were represented inaccurately. Hopefully if that is the case, then such parts were minimal. I wanted this to be more about the learning process for them both rather than a technical manual.**

 **Thank you all so much for reading this. And I do want to say...if a friend or a loved one struggles with these same issues, please don't treat them harshly. Because quite often, the people who push such vices will often treat them like royalty to keep them coming back. Cherish those close to you, no matter what their flaws, and don't treat the sick like criminals.**


End file.
